editorial dec 2022_nnedinma_umeokafor.edited improvement of the performance of the construction industry through education and training editorial december 2022 introduction this is the tenth issue of the journal of construction business and management, a combination of the regular issue and a special issue of selected papers from construction business and project management cbpm 2021 conference proceedings. this issue contains five blind double peer-reviewed articles by seventeen scholars in nigeria, south africa, and malaysia covering strategic management, environmental pollution, compliance with building standards, dispute resolution, and performance management. despite the difference in the topics, one of the key issues highlighted by the papers is the emphasis on improving education and awareness in the industry to address the issues identified in the papers. following this introduction is the discussion of the papers, after which the conclusion follows. discussion of the papers compliance with construction regulations, standards and codes is fundamental to improving the key performance indicators, by implication, project performance (umeokafor et al. 2022). further, this means that it has implications for project risks. while developed countries still record compliance issues which have resulted in tragic events such as the grenfell fire incident, the developing ones are not left behind, demonstrated to be worse in many indicators. opawole, alao, yusuf, adu and ofoetan (2022) examine one of the major issues in building construction in nigeria, construction materials-related building collapse. using survey questionnaires, the authors assess the determinants of compliance with concreting materials standards in building projects in nigeria, using one of the country's major cities, lagos, as a case study. being sitebased and non-site based, the factors are in six categories, regulation, procurement, capacity, technical, performance and skills components. production quality control, non-compliance with specified concrete mix, low concrete grade and supervision by incompetent persons are among the site-based factors. however, non-site-based ones include procurement policies and regulatory frameworks in efficiency and professionalism. it was also found that noncompliance with the national standards results in rework, project delays, additional costs, and environmental issues. to improve the quality of buildings through compliance with concreting materials and reduce or eliminate building collapse, the regulatory policies and enforcement mechanism, competencies and training, and ethical standards of stakeholders require more attention. while the generalisation of the findings is limited to lagos state, given that it is one of the states with a high volume of construction, the study is, at least, indicative of what happens in major cities in nigeria, such as abuja and port-harcourt. the second paper, by rambaruth, adam and krishna (2022), on strategic management in construction small and medium enterprises (smes), addresses another pertinent issue. smes outnumber the large enterprises, the heart of the economies of countries. yet, they face challenges, which in many cases are different from their large counterparts, for example, limited access to funds and competent persons. many of these smes in construction lack strategic planning, one of the factors for early failure (rambaruth et al., 2022). many policies, strategies and studies are informed by large enterprises' views and contexts, overlooking the smes. consequently, the authors examine the determinants of a company's decision to adopt a strategic plan, the role of strategic planning in improving a company's performance, and the challenges associated with a strategic plan in place. using the ethekwini region of south africa as a case study, the study found that key factors for strategic management in the construction smes examined include increased productivity, the quest to gain competitive advantage and improved decision-making. it was good to find that most of them adopted strategic management practices to improve business performance. the authors conclude that one of the ways of improving strategic management in construction smes is through improved education and awareness education and broadened skills curriculum by the government. government and tertiary institutions can also integrate strategic management into sme training programmes. the need for education and awareness, consistent with the recommendations of opawole et al. (2022), highlights the need for more attention to education and training in the construction and property industry. graduate architects are the future of tomorrow in the profession; they are yet to pass the professional examination but hold a master's degree in architecture. the need to exploit education to improve the construction industry's performance is furthered in the third paper by tiew, hashim and zolkafli (2022). tiew et al. (2022). investigate the major performance barriers that graduate architects encounter in project implementation. these factors are skillsbased, poor project documentation management, lack of soft skills, inadequate quality assessment management, and a shortfall in design management. while it highlights the areas the universities can focus on, adequately integrating them into the curricula is consistent with the recommendations of opawole et al. (2022) and rambaruth et al. (2022) in this issue. while education empowers the learners with knowledge, the process may have implications for their health and the environment. addressing educational issues that have consequences for the environment and students' health is the focus of nkeleme, mbamali and shakantu (2022). the authors measured the number of combustion pollutants generated while learning and teaching in laboratories at one of nigeria's leading universities (ahmadu bello university zaria) and their effect on indoor air quality. nkeleme et al. found that the presence of co during the combustion is above ashrae 62 and naaqs limit of 9ppm reaching up to 45ppm at some points and oxygen at the critical level, 20.9 per cent or below 20.4 per cent. the authors also found that the laboratories are congested, and inadequate ventilation systems exacerbate the discomforting effects of combustion-generated pollutants. adequate ventilation should be provided, which is one of the paper's recommendations. the students learning environment, including the physical ones, is one of the barriers to learning; it should facilitate and support education (cleveland and fisher 2014). undoubtedly, covid-19 has socio-economic and health implications globally. however, it has increased attention on technology, mental health and some aspects of risk management in construction. amoo, lukman and musa (2022) is the last paper, focussing on dispute resolution methods in construction during covid-19, where south africa is used as a case study. the aim is to determine their appropriateness and effectiveness. the findings demonstrate the negative implication of an interest-based approach rather than the right-based approach to resolving disputes in construction. further, the study shows that negotiation, mediation, and conciliation were adopted to resolve unforeseen delays, claims, and added costs during the pandemic. the pandemic draws attention to pricing methods as a significant source of dispute in the supply and demand chain network during the period. it highlights the imperativeness of clear language in contracts, risk management training, communication improvement, and dynamic project schedule documentation as some conflict and dispute resolution tools postcovid. conclusion this issue which contains five papers from seventeen scholars in nigeria, south africa, and malaysia, covers strategic management, environmental pollution, compliance with building standards, dispute resolution, and performance management. while the findings vary, one consistent key finding or implication of this is the need for education and training to improve the construction industry's performance. this is in terms of performance improvement skills of graduate architects, risk management training for those with contract and risk management responsibilities, integrating strategic management education in curricula, and building materials standard compliance training. we thank the authors for their contributions and the reviewers for their efforts to improve the quality of the papers published by the journal. the journal editorial board and panel of reviewers also play a critical part in the higher quality assurance of the manuscript and in keeping the journal on the path to attaining the expected standard and quality. criticisms, feedback, and suggestions from readers on improving the journal's quality are also welcome. references amoo, o. t., lukman, y. and musa, n., 2022. dispute resolution mathods adopted by contractors during covid-19 in eastern cape, south africa: a case study. journal of construction business and management, 5(2): 54-67. cleveland, b. and fisher, k., 2014. the evaluation of physical learning environments: a critical review of the literature. learning environ res, 17:1–28 nkeleme, e. i., mbamali, i. and shakantu, w. m. i., 2022. a measure of combustiongenerated pollutants in university laboratories and its effects on indoor air quality. journal of construction business and management, 5(2): 44-53. opawole, a., alao, o. o., yusuf, a. o., adu, e. t. and ofoetan, m. a., 2022. evaluation of compliance of concreting materials to standards in building projects in lagos state, nigeria. journal of construction business and management, 5(2): 1-19. rambaruth, a., adam, j. k. and krishna, s. b. n., 2022. elements and issues to strategic management in the construction industry among small and medium enterprises: a case study in south africa’s ethekwini region. journal of construction business and management, 5(2): 20-28. tiew, s. y., hashim, h. a. and zolkafli, u. k. b., 2022. performance barriers affecting graduate architects in architectural firms: a systematic literature review. journal of construction business and management, 5(2): 29-43. umeokafor, n. i., evangelinos, k. and windapo, a. o., 2020. strategies for improving complex construction health and safety regulatory environments. international journal of construction management.doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2019.1707853. nnedinma umeokafor phd associate editor, journal of construction business and management prof. abimbola windapo editor-in-chief, journal of construction business and management, 5(2): editorial june 2023_1 sustainable improvement in infrastructure development in africa: which way forward? editorial june 2023 abimbola windapo university of cape town https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3162-6546 nnedinma umeokafor university of greenwich, london, united kingdom https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4010-5806 introduction infrastructure development remains a key driver for improved productivity and economic growth globally, especially in developing countries. however, this encounters significant setbacks; hence, the united nations has set relevant, sustainable development goals. this may explain why the authors of the articles in this regular issue focus on construction tender price inflation, lean construction techniques, crystalline silica dust, and sustainable construction transition (sct) policy, demonstrating the challenges that infrastructure development globally faces but with a focus on developing countries. they argue that these challenges must be addressed for a sustainable improvement in infrastructure development in various african countries. for example, musa et al. (2023) argues that a better understanding of the level of awareness and barriers to lean construction techniques in developing countries, such as nigeria will bring about sustainable infrastructure. however the problems that developing countries face, including establishing a functional regulatory system that will facilitate such ambition has been established as complex by authors, for example, umeokafor (2017). the question remains 'which way forward? how does africa ensure and sustain the development of its infrastructure? while the authors in this issue attempt to answer this question, they also highlight areas that require more attention for pragmatic and robust solutions. welcome to the eleventh issue of the journal of construction business and management and collection of four articles by 15 authors from kenya, nigeria, south africa, and zambia. following this introduction is the discussion of the papers, followed by the conclusion. discussion of the papers despite the positive contributions of the construction industry to infrastructure development, its negative impact on the environment (for example, air and noise pollution, high water consumption, dust and gas emission, and university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm waste generation) is significant (drager and letmathe, 2022). evidence suggests that the construction industry's contributions in developing countries are more than their developed counterparts. this call for more attention. however, many aspects of sustainability, for example, the scope and implementation dynamics of sct in kenya, are poorly understood because of the associated knowledge gaps. using qualitative content analysis, joseph, ralwala, wachira-towey, and mutisya (2023) examine 34 policy documents on sct in kenya to identify the nature of their priorities, the instruments, and stakeholder orientations, including any shortcomings. they found that the stakeholders' orientation mainly targets developers/owners/occupiers and the government. by implication, other stakeholders in the supply chain are overlooked. in terms of the regulatory instruments, they are mainly regulations, constitutions, acts of parliament, codes, and guidelines. the priorities are on the strategic and tactical implementation of environmental sustainability with little consideration for the socioeconomic objective and operational level of implementation. the authors conclude that one of the ways forward is improving the sustainability performance indicators by realigning the priorities of the sct by focusing on addressing socioeconomic objectives and the operational level of implementation. they also recommend a centralised database that supports economic incentives, education, and information, among many competitions. despite the contributions of joseph et al. (2023) to the burning issue, the need for further studies is evident. for example, while the authors acknowledge the need to go beyond policy regime evaluation, the scope of the study, the problems identification aspect of policymaking, agenda setting, policy development, and implementation require further examination; further research can focus on interviewing the stakeholders on the topic to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences. studies in the tenth issue of this journal focus on improving the construction industry's performance through education and training (see windapo and umeokafor 2022). the second paper in this issue, tembo, mwanaumo, and kahanji (2023), slightly align with this, focussing on a major contributor to the industry's poor performance, construction tender prices. using content analysis, tembo et al. (2023) examine data sources (such as annual reports, road sector reports, audit reports, and annual work plans (from 2008 to 2018) in two organisations. the aim is to define the behaviour of construction tender prices toward proposing the dimension of corrective priorities. some of the findings in the study include a lack of collaborative working (for example, late engagement with consultants), late payment, poor quality of work, contract issues (such as poor contract practices and unethical contract awards), and poor design. further, an increase in tender prices was also found; for example, a 31.4 per cent increase was found in the case study firms from 2008 to 2018. they conclude that tender overpricing in construction is commonplace, which has negative implications for tender prince inflation and variability in public sector projects during the procurement stage. while this study is limited like others, for example, due to insufficient data, some of the suggested ways forward include that the government should develop practical policies to reduce construction prices and provide incentives to the public construction sector (for example, by establishing good tender pricing systems that are inclusive of all stakeholders and meet their needs). the third paper is by musa, saleh, ibrahim, and dandajeh (2023), which appraises the level of awareness and barriers to applying lean construction in nigeria, using kano as a case study. the principle of lean construction is the elimination of waste in any production process and activities resulting in a process cycle reduction by implication, improving the product quality and project efficiency (balalola et al. 2019; womack and jones 2003). it concerns the better use of resources in more efficient ways, above effectiveness. meeting sustainable development goals directly or indirectly related to infrastructure development will be extremely challenging (if not impossible) without significantly reducing construction waste. the construction process needs to be more efficient in many ways, including using materials, meeting completion dates, staying within budget, and delivering energy-efficient and healthy buildings. musa and colleagues argue that the limited understanding of lean construction techniques among construction practitioners remains a significant barrier to realising this. hence, they assess the extent to which construction practitioners know the principles and other barriers to its implementation. their study found that construction practitioners' awareness and knowledge level in kano, nigeria, is low; the overall mean score for all the lean construction techniques is 2.52, less than the average score of 3. the barriers comprise the absence of a lean construction awareness programme ranking the highest with a mean score of 4.18 followed by lack of education and training on its implementation with a mean score of 4.09. the last article focuses on crystalline silica dust's sources and control measures in constructing buildings and roads in zambia. collecting qualitative data from trade workers such as tilers, bricklayers, labourers, and carpenters, through observations, the study by tente, mwanaumo, and thwala (2023) contributes to the limited qualitative and occupational health research in developing countries. addressing occupational health problems (which significantly limit sustaining infrastructure development) will be challenging without understanding social reality. tente et al. (2023) found that adequate personal protective equipment (ppe) is rarely provided to workers. they also found that the exposure of the workers to dust is high because the use of control measures such as water and facemasks, are inadequate or ineffective. for example, they found that some workers use covid-19 facemasks which are inadequate for silica dust control. regarding the risk control hierarchy, only engineering controls and ppe were adopted. by implication, the more effective ones, such as elimination or substitution, and the complementary ones, such as administrative controls, are not adopted. the risk control hierarchy comprises five measures/strategies/levels, and the principle is that in controlling risks, the most effective is considered and adopted first where possible. the first and most effective is the elimination, followed by substitution, engineering control, administrative control, and lastly ppe which is the least effective. the combination of control measures is commonplace. for example, when using substitutions, training and supervision (administrative controls) and ppe can be adopted. the findings of tente et al. (2023) explain some of the health problems workers in zambia encounter. the authors conclude by recommending the provision of the relevant ppe to the workers. however, the risk control hierarchy must be applied. authors such as umeokafor (2020) also found that a critical challenge for authors in construction health and safety, is the poor regulatory environment in developing countries. conclusion despite the differences in the topics of the four papers in this issue contributed by15 authors from kenya, nigeria, south africa, and zambia, this editorial has been able to show how they advance the discourse of sustainable improvement in infrastructure development by identifying issues that impact on it and suggesting ways forward. focussing on construction tender price inflation, lean construction techniques, crystalline silica dust, and sustainable construction transition (sct) policy, the papers demonstrate the need for improved regulation in occupational health and sustainability, the urgency for governments to develop practical policies to reduce construction prices and provide incentives to the public construction sector; and the extent of poor awareness and knowledge of lean techniques in a state in nigeria which is critical for the efficient use of resources. some of the burning questions that need to be answered are not limited to: • how can the limited awareness and knowledge of lean construction in nigeria be explained from a qualitative perspective? • what are the characteristics of the relevant sct policy documents in terms of the problem identification aspect of policymaking, agenda setting, development, and implementation? • what are the experiences and perceptions of stakeholders in using the sct policy? • what are the workable strategies for improving workers' occupational health when exposed to silica dust and chemicals in zambia? we thank the authors for their contributions and the reviewers for their efforts to improve the quality of the papers published by the journal. we are also grateful to the journal editorial board and the panel of reviewers who play a critical role in ensuring the quality of the manuscripts and in keeping the journal on the path to attaining the expected standard and quality. criticisms, feedback, and suggestions from readers for improving the journal's quality are also welcome. references babalola, o., ibem, e. o., and ezema, i. c. (2019) lean construction: an approach to achieving sustainable built environment in nigeria, journal of physics conference series. 1299 012007, doi:10.1088/17426596/1299/1/012007 dräger, p. and letmathe, p. (2022) value losses and environmental impacts in the construction industry – tradeoffs or correlates? journal of cleaner production, 336,130435, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130435. joseph, s., ralwala, a., wachira-towey i., and mutisya, e (2023) sustainable construction transition (sct) policy regime in kenya. journal of construction business and management, 6(1): 1-16 musa, m. m., saleh, i. m., ibrahim, y., and dandajeh, m. a., (2023) an assessment of awareness and barriers to the application of lean construction techniques in kano state, nigeria journal of construction business and management, 6(1): 33-42 tembo, m., mwanauwo, e. m., and kahanji, c. (2023), an investigation into construction tender price inflation: a documentary review, journal of construction business and management, 6(1): 17-33 tente, p., mwanaumo, e. m., and thwala, w. (2023) sources and control measures of crystalline silica dust in a road and building project in zambia, journal of construction business and management, 6(1): 4352. umeokafor, n. (2020) why copied or transposed safety, health and well-being legislation and standards are impracticable and irrelevant in developing economies, policy and practice in health and safety, 18 (1) (2020), pp. 41-54, 10.1080/14773996.2019.1667095 womack, j. and jones, d. (2003). lean thinking: banishing waste and creating wealth in your corporation. new york: free press windapo, a. and umeokafor, n. (2022). editorial: improvement of the performance of the construction industry through education and training. journal of construction business and management, 5(2), v-vii. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.2.1309 jcbm (2018) 2(2). 36-41 assessment of the use of locally available materials for building construction in ado-ekiti nigeria k.t. alade1, a. n. oyebade2 and n.u. nzewi3 1.2 department of project management technology, federal university of technology akure, ondo state. nigeria. 3department of architecture, nnamdi azikiwe university, nigeria. received 13 november 2017; received in revised form 1 february 2018, 14 june 2018; accepted 23 june 2018 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.449 abstract the potentials and benefits of local building materials (lbm) remain untapped and seem to progress at a slow rate in the nigerian building industry. this research examined the availability and level of usage of lbm in ado-ekiti, south-western nigeria. further, it considered hindering and helpful factors for the use of lbm in the study area. based on the extensive review of literatures, ten (10) lbm were identified and examined in the study area. one hundred and fifty (150) professionals closely involved with building construction in construction companies that are fully operational in ado-ekiti were investigated for this study. the relative index analysis of the frequency in the use of lbm available for building construction in ado ekiti revealed that the following lbm are available and in the following order, in the study area: stone(1) with rii 0.95 , timber(2) rii 0.93, laterite(3) rii 0.92, clay and mud(4) rii 0.91, bamboo(5) rii 0.90, leaves and barks of trees(6) rii 0.88, palm kernel shells (7) rii 0.85, wild coconut trees(8) rii 0.79, animal wastes (9) rii 0.76 and dung(10) rii 0.74. however, the level of usage of these materials is still very low. considering the economic, socio-cultural and environmental benefits of lbm, this study recommended more awareness campaign and sensitization of the public on lbm in order to promote its social acceptability. in addition, it recommended that federal and state governments should facilitate more research in the use of the available local materials for building construction. availing funds specifically for research and development of lbm will also promote its use. keywords: affordable housing, building materials, construction, local knowledge, nigeria. 1. introduction building materials often constitute the single largest input to housing construction in most developing country cities particularly in africa (ugochukwu and chioma, 2015). it accounts for about 35% to 37% of the construction cost component and in a standard low income housing unit, the cost of building materials alone can take up to 70% (windapo and iyagba, 2007; ugochukwu and chioma, 2015). it therefore remains a major reason for the high cost of building construction (taiwo and adeboye, 2013). local building materials (lbms) are materials sourced locally, either occurring naturally or manufactured with locally sourced raw materials (omole and bako, 2013). such materials are within reach and when compared to imported materials, they are cheaper 1 corresponding author. tel: +2348144768207 email address: ktalade@futa.edu.ng and more affordable in cost (oloruntoba and ayodele, 2013). africa in general, and nigeria in particular is endowed with abundant natural resources that can meet their building materials production. however, they still depend largely on imported building materials in order to meet the construction needs (ugochukwu and chioma, 2015). for example, the study of iwuagwu, onyegiri and iwuagwu (2016) revealed that fibrous tree (used to produce good structural members for roof, wall, lintel, ceiling and bridges construction) is found mainly in the savannah region (middle belt) of nigeria. furthermore, grasses found in abundant measures in the middle belt and northern region of nigeria are used for the purpose of construction in the nigerian traditional architecture (oruwari and opuene, 2002). university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.449 mailto:ktalade@futa.edu.ng k.t. alade, a.n.oyebade and n.u. nzewi/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 37 taiwo and adeboye (2013) affirmed a gradual decline in the use of locally manufactured building materials, as well as massive importation of building materials in nigeria thus, greatly widening the gap between imports and exports. there are several factors militating against the use of lbms for building construction in nigeria. omole and bako (2013) noted legal acceptability, social acceptability, doubtful durability, technology to handle setting, uncertainty of cost, double standard on the part of the government, lack of standards and specification, problem of mass production, uncertainty about the demand and uncertainty about the strength of material when compared with their imported counterparts. vying the abundant availability of lbms and its under-utilization in nigeria several studies have been carried out but there is yet to be a focused one in towns or cities in nigeria to consider in specific terms, the availability, level of usage and problems associated with the adoption in specific towns or cities in south-western nigeria, in order to promote the usage. this study bridged this gap. it focused on ado-ekiti, an indigenous city in south-western nigeria which also doubles as the state capital of ekiti state. the city has several building construction companies and building projects (on-going and completed) and is endowed with abundant natural resources. 2. literature review 2.1 research work on local building materials (lbms) in nigeria there are two research institutes that are presently sourcing for all functional materials in nigeria i.e. raw materials research institute (rmri) and nigeria building road research institute (nibrri) (madedor, 2002). the major role of these institutes has to do with the selling-out of information on local materials through seminars, conferences and workshops. nibrri is specifically required to research into all forms of construction materials. oloruntoba and ayodele (2013) gave insight to the potentials of lbm as an alternative to imported building materials at different stages of building construction. according to them, stones and rocks with laterite can be utilized jointly to form a very strong strip foundation that will stand the test of time. similarly, laterite when reinforced with bamboo or coconut palm, can be used as bamboo reinforced terracrete which is as good as concrete slab. timber, when well treated and impregnated with liquid preservation can be used to achieve good timber board flooring. in the same vein, bamboo floor and foist provide good building flooring when polished and treated to form bamboo floor and foist. cow dung when properly mixed with clay screening produced strong and good looking floor. this can be improved with the addition of fermented leaves and bitumen to further improve the flooring having a reasonable damp resistance. furthermore, brick with laterite joining forms a good building wall with good conductivity advantage over the hollow concrete block. also, stone jointed with laterite mortar or lime stabilized mortar produces a desirable building wall with high compressive strength while coconut palm, bamboo and timber treated as stakes inside earth form a desirable building wall. earth when required to mix cement, conserves the volume of cement used because of its cohesive properties. earth wall can also be reinforced with some additives (vegetable, stems, reeds and straws) to achieve desirable strength and check cracking in walls. laterite reinforced with bitumen for wall will have in addition to the strength the ability to act as a repellant to ants and rodents. clay and bricks stand out among other materials for building walls. bolaji (2000) submits that clay products are significant areas that need be explored urgently considering such advantages that go along with its usage. e.g. (durability, aesthetic, cost effectiveness and fire resistance). oloruntoba and ayodele (2013) asserted that bamboo in particular has a meaningful tensile strength depending on the specie. the ultimate tensile strength of some species of bamboo has been found to be about the same as that of steel at its yield point-average1,400kg/cm to 2 2,800kg/cm (fadamiro and ogunsemi, 1996). such remain a very good local material option for building roof. similarly, sun-dried earth block bricks have also been used in the construction of vault and domes; the procedure involves laying and bonding the masonry units over a wooden framework which is to be removed when the vaults or domes becomes dried (popoola, ayegbokiki and gambo, 2015). clay and bricks stand out among other materials for building walls according to (oloruntoba and ayodele, 2013). for finishes and fittings, earth stabilized with cement forms a good plastering material. stones can be used as stone facing on the walls while timbers are good cladding. 2.2 utilization of local building materials and technologies many african countries, despite the abundant natural resources that can meet their need for building materials production, still depend largely on imported building materials and technologies (ugochukwu and chioma, 2015). it is pertinent to note that a key benefit of the use of lbms in housing delivery is cost reduction and enhancing of foreign exchange (omole and bako, 2013). other benefits of lbms include affordability, availability, biodegradability, energy efficiency, re-usability and ozone friendliness (oloruntoba and ayodele 2013). 2.3 challenges in the use of local building materials in nigeria taiwo and adeboye (2013) noted that some existing locally produced building materials are capital intensive to manufacture locally, as their production is based on sophisticated technologies. in the same vein is the findings of omole and bako (2013) that technology to handle the setting and uncertainty of the cost is a major challenge facing the production of locally produced building materials. in addition to this is the problem of legal and social acceptability and doubtful durability. other criticisms of local building materials in the nigerian context are lack of standards and specification, lack of organizational and institutional framework, problem of mass production, uncertainty 38 k.t. alade, a.n.oyebade and n.u. nzewi/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 about the demand and uncertainty about the strength of material when compared with their imported counterparts. ikechukwu and iwuagwu (2016) also identified the problem of acceptability with the public, durability and low strength, deforestation, civilization, frequent maintenance and challenges with the use for tall buildings as other factors affecting the use of lbms in nigeria. 3. research methodology the area investigated for this study is ado-ekiti, the capital of ekiti in south-western nigeria. the city and the rural settlements at its fringe now exist and function as a local government area (lga)a single regional entity with a population of 308,621 (gazatte, 2007). using a survey approach, this study considered the availability and level of usage of lbm for building construction in ado-ekiti. further, it investigated the hindering and helpful factors to the usage of lbm as well as strategies to promote the use of lbms for building construction in the study area. respondents for the study include professionals involved directly and indirectly with construction activitiesbuilders, engineers, surveyors, architects, project and facility managers in construction companies that either has a branch or its headquarter in ado-ekiti. a total of one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires were administered. one hundred and nine (109) of these were returned, valid and useable, representing 72.7% of the sample population. the data presented and interpreted are based on responses from the set of questionnaires administered. a semistructured questionnaire designed on the basis of extensive literature review on lbm was used to capture the various types of lbm that can be available in the study area. information on level of usage, was also included in the questionnaire while a section was dedicated to the hindering factors and suggestion strategies to promote usage of lbm. the relative importance index (rii) method was used to analyze data obtained based on the set of questionnaires administered. one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires were distributed out of which one hundred and nine (109) were usable and valid, which represents (72.7%) of the sample population, were returned. 4. data presentation, analysis and interpretation of results prior to the survey, the review of literatures helped in identifying the common local building materials used in the building construction industry in nigeria. after this analysis, a total of ten (10) lbm were shortlisted for this study. these identified lbm were presented to respondents in the questionnaire so as to determine their level of availability and usage in ado-ekiti, nigeria. as shown on table 1, stone was found to be the most available indigenous building material in ado-ekiti, nigeria. 76% of the respondents stated that stone is always available for use as a lbm in ado-ekiti and its environs. thus, it ranked first, having a relative importance index (rii) of 0.95. this availability of stone could be as a result of the numerous hills and mountains found in ekiti state, nigeria. respondents ranked timber as the second most available lbm for building construction in ado-ekiti. this is shown by its relative importance index (rii) of 0.93, with 68% of the total respondents agreeing that timber is always available for use for building construction. laterite, with a rii of 0.92 as shown on table 1 was rated third by 60.6% of the respondents. clay and mud was also found to be very available in ado-ekiti, this availability is largely due to the nature of the soil found in some parts of ekiti state, especially areas where artisanal mining activities is frequent. this is further supported by about 60% of the respondents who stated that clay and mud is always available for building construction. in some villages and settlements in ekiti state, there are still today, several houses built with clay and mud, as a result of the poverty level in these villages. as shown table 1 the respondents rated bamboo as fifth in terms local building materials availability in adoekiti. about 57% of the respondents stated that bamboo is always available while about 2% agreed that bamboo is not available at all in ado-ekiti; with rii of 0.74. from this study, dung was found as the least used lbm in adoekiti. most respondents stated that dung is usually used as manure or decomposed to serve as other source of energy. besides, ekiti state is not known for cattle rearing and has very few ranches, which is further aggravated by a recently passed anti-grazing bill in the state. table 1 also shows that leaves and bark of trees, palm kernel shell, wild coconut trees, animal waste and dung are other identified lbm available in ado-ekiti. these were ranked as 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th with rii scores of 0.88, 0.85, 0.79 0.76 and 0.74 respectively. as available as these lbm are, they are not yet fully utilized. some key factors have however been identified as constraints to the realization of the full potential of local materials in nigeria, these include according to oladapo and oni (2012) include poor quality of product and inappropriate use of lbms in construction (sanusi,1993). table 1: the relative importance index (rii) of available lbm in ado ekiti local building materials percentage of respondent scoring rii rank 1 2 3 4 5 stone 0.0 0.0 0.9 22.9 76.1 0.95 1 timber 0.0 1.8 0.0 30.3 67.9 0.93 2 laterite 0.0 0.9 0.0 38.5 60.6 0.92 3 clay and mud 0.0 0.0 3.7 36.7 59.6 0.91 4 bamboo 1.8 0.0 3.7 37.6 56.9 0.90 5 leaves and bark of trees 1.8 1.8 3.7 38.5 54.1 0.88 6 k.t. alade, a.n.oyebade and n.u. nzewi/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 39 palm kernel shell 0.0 0.9 11.1 48.6 39.4 0.85 7 wild coconut trees 1.8 1.8 22.9 45 28.4 0.79 8 animal waste 1.8 1.8 26.6 54.1 15.6 0.76 9 dung 1.8 0.9 33.9 49.5 13.8 0.74 10 source: researchers’ field survey (2017) this study also assessed the level of usage of lbms in the study area. this study found timber as the most widely used lbm in ado-ekiti. about 73% of the respondents stated that timber is mostly used for building construction in the study area, with the rii of 0.93. timber in adoekiti is mostly utilized for flooring and roofing truss members thus, making it to readily replace ceramic tiles and steel trusses that are alternative imported materials according to the studies of (oloruntoba and ayodele, 2013). although it was the most available in the study area, stone was found to be the second mostly utilized lbm in the study area. this is shown by its rii of 0.92 ranked as very high. about 72% of the respondents stated that stone is very frequently used in building construction, 22% asserted that it is frequently used while 6.4% stated that it is moderately used. stones and rocks in the study area are alternative building materials to sandcrete blocks and fibre glass which are imported and used at sub-structure (foundation) and for structural frame and walls respectively. this study confirmed the findings of oloruntoba and ayodele (2013), on the use of stones and rocks as alternative building materials. as shown on table 2, laterite is adjudged to be the third most utilized lbm in the study area with a rii of 0.90, ranking very high. about 64.2% of the respondents stated that laterite is very frequently used, 21.1% affirmed that it is frequently used while 14.7% of the respondents stated that laterite is moderately used in the study area. as pointed out by arayela (2000), laterite bricks contributed increasingly to housing stock in nigeria. despite the fact that it has been used in numerous places throughout the world since pre-historic times it seems that today, this material is in need of some re-evaluation in processing. as further shown on table 2, laterite stabilized block was ranked as the fourth most used local materials in the nigerian built environment. 49.5% of the respondents stated that laterite stabilized blocks are very frequently used as an indigenous building material, 27.5% stated that it is frequently used, 16.5% stated that it is moderately used while 1.8% of the respondents stated that it is not used at all. this is ranked to be high in terms of the level of usage. in addition, the respondents reiterated that the use of laterite stabilized blocks can be improved upon if there is adequate technology. bamboo and interlocking bricks were ranked as fifth and sixth in terms of the level of their usage. this is shown on table 2 with rii scores of 0.782 and 0.692 respectively. 38.5% of the respondents stated that bamboo is very frequently used as an indigenous building material while 13.8% stated that interlocking bricks are very frequently used as local building material in nigerian construction industry. bamboo in the study area readily replaces steel reinforcement and structural steel for flooring in the study area. fired/unfired clay bricks in the study area readily replaces the hardboard imported materials for structural frames and walls. clay and mud, fire clay bricks and grasses, with rii 0.634, 0.616 and 0.616 respectively are moderately utilized in the study area. wild coconut tress, leaves and bark of trees and animal wastes, with rii 0.450, 0.384 and 0.380 respectively are poorly used in the study area. this is because they are not available in large quantities in the study area. table 2: relative importance index (rii) of usage of lbm in ado-ekiti, nigeria local building materials percentage of respondent scoring rii remark 1 2 3 4 5 timber 0 2.8 6.4 18.3 72.5 0.930 very high stone 0 0 6.4 22 71.6 0.922 very high laterite 0 0 14.7 21.1 64.2 0.900 very high laterite stabilized blocks 1.8 4.6 16.5 27.5 49.5 0.836 high bamboo 0.9 9.2 24.8 26.6 38.5 0.786 high interlocking bricks 0.9 7.3 50.5 27.5 13.8 0.692 high clay and mud 0.9 23.9 44 19.3 11.9 0.634 moderately high fired clay bricks 1.8 16.5 59.6 15.6 6.4 0.616 moderately high grasses 30.3 39.4 21.1 4.6 4.6 0.616 moderately high wild coconut tress 26.6 37.6 22.9 10.1 2.8 0.450 low leaves and bark of trees 37.6 38.5 18.3 5.5 0 0.384 low animal waste 37.6 41.3 14.7 6.4 0 0.380 low source: researchers’ field survey (2017) table 3 below reveals the strategies to promote the use of lbm in the study area. there is need for vigorous advertisement of lbms in the study area. this strategy was ranked first as shown (table 3) with a rii score of 0.804. most construction stakeholders are not familiar with the inherent cost-benefits in the use of local building materials, hence its avoidance. this may be largely due to lack of awareness of the lbm potentials to stakeholders 40 k.t. alade, a.n.oyebade and n.u. nzewi/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 in the building industry. in addition, promulgating an enforceable national housing policy which promotes the production was ranked 2nd with rii of 0.782. although the policy exists already in the nigerian local context, it is not always in motion. increasing research in this area is also found to be one of the critical factors in promoting the use of lbms as this was ranked by 3rd (rii = 0.778). government should support research and encourage the use of lbm in construction of buildings particularly to overcome the challenges in technology and its use. respondents added that lbms are not always used due to its poor quality, which can be improved on through intensive research conducted in this direction. this is in agreement with the assertion of hammond (1984) that the overall effect of the technical deficiencies of locally produced building materials creates acceptability barriers. furthermore, some of the respondents stated that lbm are not being well patronized due to the ignorance of the construction workers. respondents believed that the outcome of researches conducted by research institutes should be published as construction manuals for local building materials. this proposed strategy will help in promoting the use of local building materials. this strategy is ranked 4th with rii of 0.776 (table 3). training of manpower and increase in the use of local building materials by professionals in the industry were also identified as strategies for promoting the use of local building materials in ado-ekiti with rii of 0.760 and 0.754 respectively. respondents opined that if intensive training of manpower, on the use of local building materials, is carried out effectively, indigenous building materials will be well appreciated. in addition, the adoption of local building materials by construction professionals and government agencies will also motivate and promote local building materials use. promoting the use of lbm in the construction of public buildings was ranked the least by respondents, with rii 0.754. public buildings are usually characterized by astounding solidity and some respondents thought that the use of lbm may compromise this. however, with improved processing, the government can also play a critical part in encouraging the use of lbm. table 3: relative importance index (rii) of strategies needed to promote use of lbm for building construction in ado-ekiti, south-western nigeria local building materials percentage of respondent scoring rii rank 1 2 3 4 5 a vigorous advertisement of the materials 2.3 4.7 18.6 37.2 37.2 0.804 1 promulgate an enforceable national housing policy to promote the production and utilization of local building materials at the national level 4.7 4.7 20.9 34.9 34.9 0.782 2 increase research on the properties of local building materials 2.3 14.0 14.0 30.2 39.5 0.778 3 production of construction manuals on local building materials 4.7 7.0 16.3 39.5 32.6 0.776 4 training of manpower 11.6 0.0 16.3 39.5 32.6 0.760 5 increase use of local building materials by the professionals of the industry 0.0 7.0 25.6 51.2 16.3 0.754 6 government should promote the use of local materials in the construction of public buildings. 2.3 16.3 16.3 34.9 30.4 0.754 7 source: researchers’ field survey (2017) 4.1 hypothesis testing the study’s hypothesis is to test whether local materials are frequently used for building constructions in ado ekiti or not. the statistics shown below is the chi square test result, to test the frequency in the use of local materials for building constructions in ado ekiti. the statistical results show that the estimated chi-square statistic is significant at the 99% level (because significant value (p = 0.000 < .01), so the null hypothesis, h0: local materials are not frequently used for building constructions in ado ekiti, can be rejected and the alternate hypothesis h1: local materials are frequently used for building constructions in ado ekiti, accepted. table 4: chi square test result, for the use of local materials for building constructions in ado ekiti. chi-square 26.978 df 1 asymp. sig. .000 5. conclusions and further research this study considered the availability, level of usage and strategies to promote the use of lbm in the nigerian building construction industry, using ado-ekiti, ekiti state as study area. the study confirmed that lbm is available as an alternative source of building materials to imported materials. the three most available lbm in the study area are: stone (1), timber (2) and laterite (3) however, imported or foreign materials are still competing favorably with locally manufactured materials for building construction. although lbm are available in large quantities in the study area, they are not yet utilized to their full potentials. this is in line with some other studies and key findings of taiwo and adeboye (2013); oloruntoba and ayodele (2013) and omole and bako (2013); ikechukwu and iwuagwu (2016). this study contributed to local knowledge in the area of building construction and construction business noting among other things that the key constraints to the k.t. alade, a.n.oyebade and n.u. nzewi/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 41 realization of the full potentials of local materials in the study area include, technological constraints and poor quality of product which is as a result of non-compliance with standards. this is in line with the study of oladapo and oni (2012) and ikechukwu and iwuagwu, (2016). because of its economic, social-cultural and environmental benefits, it is essential to invest in the promotion of lbm using various means. the key strategies for the promotion of lbm are: a vigorous advertisement of the materials; promulgating an enforceable national housing policy to promote the production and utilization of local building materials at the national levels and increased research on the properties of lbm. further studies on lbm can consider focusing specifically on professional builders or building contractors who have the sole responsibility for building projects. in addition, local manufacturing companies of lbm can also be thoroughly examined to understand their limitations in the production of lbm so that it can favorably compete as alternatives to foreign building products. references arayela o. (2005). laterite bricks: before, now and hereafter. inaugural lecture series 40, delivered at federal university of technology, akure, 5-15. bolaji, k.i., (2000). ceramic materials and the 21st century housing in nigeriaa book of reading, the environmental forum, school of environmental technology, federal university of technology, akure, 157: 158 fadamiro, j. a., & ogunsemi, d. r. (1996). fundamentals of building design, construction and materials. ile-ife: fancy publication ltd. gazette, (2007). federal republic of nigeria official gezette, may 2007 hammond, a.a, (1984), acceptability of earth as a material for housing in africa, in proceedings of the international colloquium on earth construction technologies appropriate developing countries, brussels, belgium. ikechukwu o. and iwuagwu b.u. (2016) traditional building materials as a sustainable resource and material for low cost housing in nigeria: advantages, challenges and the way forward. int'l journal of research in chemical, metallurgical and civil engg. (ijrcmce) vol. 3, issue 2 iwuagwu, b. u., onyegiri, i., & iwuagwu, b. c. (2016). unaffordable low cost housing as an agent of urban slum formation in nigeria: how the architect can help. int j sustain dev, 11(2), 05-16. madedor, a. o. 2002. research and development in the production standards and specifications for stabilized soil blocks. journal of the network of african countries on local building material and techniques, united nation centre for human settlement, nairobi, 1(4): 1016. oladapo, f.o. and oni, o.j (2012). a review of selected microeconomics factors impacting building materials prices in developing countriesa case of nigeria. ethiopian journal of environmental studies and management. 5(2): 132-137 oloruntoba k. and ayodele e.o.(2013) local building materials: a tool towards effective lowincome housing in nigeria. middle-east journal of scientific research 18 (4): 492-497. omole, f. k., & bako, a. i. (2013). analysis of the problems and prospects in the use of local building materials: review of literature. analysis, 3(11). oruwari, y., margret, j., & opuene, o. (2002), acquisition of technological capability in africa: a case study of indigenous building materials firms in nigeria. atps working paper series no. 33. popoola, o., ayegbokiki, s., & gambo, m. (2015). study of compressive strength characteristics of hollow sandcrete blocks partially replaced by saw dust ash. international organization of scientific research, 5(5), 30-34. sanusi, y,a. (1993), strategies for the development and use of indigenous materials for low cost housing in nigeria. in: ike, e.c. (ed) proceedings of the international conference on nigeria indegenous building materials. 25-28 july 1993 zaria, nigeria, pp7-17 taiwo, a., & adeboye, a. b. (2013). sustainable housing supply in nigeria through the use of indigenous and composite building materials. civil and environmental research, 3(1). ugochukwu, i. b., & chioma, m. i. b. (2015). local building materials: affordable strategy for housing the urban poor in nigeria. procedia engineering, 118, 4249. windapo, a. o., & iyagba, r. o. (2007). modelling the determinants of housing construction costs in nigeria. proceedings of the annual research conference of the royal institution of chartered surveyors held on 6th and 7th september at georgia tech., atlanta, usa, 1-6. jcbm (2017) 2(1). 46-53 human resource management in the nigerian construction firms: practices and challenges o. j. ameh1, e. i. daniel2 department of building, university of lagos, nigeria1 department of construction management and the built environment, southampton solent university, united kingdom2 received 26 october 2016; received in revised form 13 january 2017, 16 march 2017 and 12 april 2017; accepted 20 april 2017 abstract improvement on human resource management is critical to overall productivity and cost effectiveness in the construction industry. this study assesses the current human resource management practices in the nigerian construction organisation and the challenges confronting it. questionnaire survey was adopted for data collection while the sampling technique was purposive. ninety eight human resource managers and construction professionals in two categories of construction organisations (client organisations involved in housing development and contractor organisations) were sampled. the results reveal that due process was followed in the recruitment process but the selections of desired candidates were often hampered by interferences and competitive work conditions. furthermore, training and development practices were superficial, involving orienting newly recruited employee on facilities for optimum performance rather than developing employee job related competences. provision of appropriate/modern working tools and equipment and provision of incentives and benefits to staff were the prevailing motivation and labour union practices. challenges facing human resource management practice in the nigerian construction industry include high labour turnover, interference at the selection stage, competitive wages and compensation issues among others. further research is required to assess the impact of identified human resource practices on productivity and project performance. keywords: challenges, construction firms, human resource management, nigeria, practices. 1. introduction the construction industry has been described as a barometer by which economic development of a nation is measured. this is because construction projects provide infrastructure required to drive socio-economic development and contributes to the gross domestic products (gdp) as well as the standard of living of its citizenry. construction process itself involves various activities with humans as a fundamental factor to the success of these activities (aguenza and som, 2012; maxwell and farquarson 2008). while it is true that machines have been developed to replace human in carrying out construction tasks (rotman, 2013), it is also true that the machines cannot operate themselves. they have to be operated by human in order to achieve desired results. however, the low level of mechanization in the construction industry of developing countries leaves it 1 corresponding author. tel: +234 8023323711 email address: oameh@unilag.edu.ng 2 email address: emmanuel.daniel@solent.ac.uk with no option than to heavily rely on human resource (hr) for its operations. in the construction industry of developing countries, hr account for significant part of the project cost. cost of hr includes personnel administration, employee training, communication cost, welfare and compensation for health and safety. it therefore means that an effective human resources management (hrm) will result in highly motivated workforce leading to high productivity, quality improvement and minimizes cost and time overruns. hrm is a coherent approach to the management of an organisation’s most valued assets; this include the people that work collectively in the organisation so as to contribute to the achievement of its objectives. hrm in essence deals with the process of attracting, developing and maintaining a talented and energetic workforce to support organisational objectives. the project oriented nature of construction activities, which is characterised by university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm o.j. ameh and e.i. daniel / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 46-53 47 projects that are custom built to client satisfaction, nomadic nature of the labour force, uncertainties associated with the production process among others makes hr policies and practices uniquely different from those of manufacturing, health, and hospitality industries and thus a fundamentally different hrm models (huemann and keegan (2007). employment in the construction industry is characterised by relatively high rates of labour turnover which manifests in periodic labour shortage (chan, clarke and dainty 2011; erlick and grabelsky, 2005 and mcgrath-champ, rosewarne and rittau 2011). according to the institute of management and administration (cited in olsen, tatun and defnall 2012), the skilled craftsmen shortage in the industry is not a shortage of workers per se, rather it is a shortage of adequately trained skilled and productive workers available for certain jobs. the growth of small and medium enterprises (smes) within the construction industry and the use of labour only sub-contractors have reduced commitment and investment in hr training within the industry (dainty, ison and root 2004, shafeek, 2016). labour turnover within the industry is also attributed to migration of skilled intellectuals and technical personnel both from and within developing countries in search of better work condition. according to wikipedia (2011), nigeria, kenya and ethiopia are the most affected by emigration in africa. labour turnover in the industry is believed to be caused by ineffective hrm characterised by poor training or lack of opportunity for training, poor wages and compensation issues, irregularity of the workload, safety issues among others. there is paucity of literature on hrm practices in the nigerian construction industry. adeagbo and oyemogun’s (2014) study focus on identifying the drivers and barriers to human resource development in the local construction firms in nigeria. other studies on hrm in nigeria focus on other industries. for instance, akinbode and uweme, (2013) examined hrm practice in private cleaning service outsourcing organisation in lagos. the focus of their study was on identifying the hr practices peculiar to cleaning services outsourcing organisation and the challenges confronting them. in another study, oladipo and abdulkadir (2011) examine the extent to which strategic hrm is practiced in the nigerian manufacturing sector and the relationship between strategic hrm and organisational performance. fajana, owoyemi, elegbede and gbajumo-sheriff (2011) on the other hand examined the influence of nigeria sociocultural characteristics on hrm practices. the poor performance of the nigerian construction industry in terms of delays in project delivery, cost uncertainty, and quality deficiency has consistently been a source of concern to industry stakeholders and researchers. despite the existence of a large number of research efforts focused on addressing issues of poor project performance, the problem persist .in view of previous research findings that a positive relationship exist between organisational performance and hrm (ayanda, lawal and ben-bernerd 2014, muhammad masum et al. 2015), the current study therefore focuses on the state of hrm practices in the nigerian construction industry in order to assess the extent to which construction organizations in nigeria use various traditional hrm practices with respect to recruitment, selection, training and motivation to increase the performance of the sector as well as the challenges confronting hrm practices in the construction sector. 2. literature review the success of a company or business is directly linked to the performance of the people that work for that business. since every organisation is made up of people, acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to higher level performance and ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitment to the organisation are essential prerequisite to achieving organisational objectives. the process of making efficient and effective use of hr so that the set goals are achieved is referred to as hrm. there is no general agreement on what constitute hrm practice in literature. practices that form the core of the various practices proposed for hrm comprise procurement (recruitment and selection), training and development, compensation (remuneration, incentive payment and retirement benefits), and maintenance (work satisfaction, health and safety). 2.1 review of research on hrm practices in the construction industry zhai, liu and fellow (2014) investigated the role of hr practices in enhancing organisational learning in chinese construction organisation using questionnaire survey and structural equation modelling. the study found that hr practices in chinese construction organisations involve multidimensional practice of job description, participation, training, staffing, and rewards. also, hr practice was found to have a significant positive effect on organisational performance. in the united states construction industry, hrm theory that is currently widely accepted as having profound influence on organisational performance is employee motivation through: worker participation, recognition, team belonging, management and commitment and effective training (yankov and kleiner, 2001). huemann et al. (2007) developed a simple model of hrm process in project oriented company (inclusive of construction) which is different from mainstream hrm literature. the focus of the model is on employee wellbeing and ethical treatment at the end of the project. in addition to recruitment in mainstream hrm literature, they proposed that project personnel be assigned to project based on specific developmental need, expertise, and experience to work with particular client among others. in addition to employment, they proposed support for career development through on the job training and feedback while engaged on project. finally, at the end of the project, they proposed three possible ethical treatments for project personnel: immediately assign them to new project, assign them to project starting sometime in the future where their skill will be better utilized, and hold them in abeyance in the absence of any project to be assigned to. tabassi and abu bakar (2009) explored hrm in construction projects in iran. they found that training and 48 o.j. ameh and e.i. daniel / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 46-53 motivation of employees are major obstacles to effective use of hrm in iran. to improve the performance of construction companies, they suggested employing both short-term and long-term training of construction workers at fixed location such as technical vocation training organisation (tvto), as well as construction sites and other on the job training (ojt) facilities. in addition, they proposed that government should provide incentives or policies that will encourage self-learning through certification of fitness for occupation in the project. 2.2 challenges of hrm in construction organisations chan (2005) quoting thomas (1992) explains that integrating the views and interests of organisation workplace diversity dimensions such as age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical ability/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, religious beliefs among others is a challenge in hrm. chukwuemeka (2006:46) assert that employing a female worker imposes the burden of nursing mothers and its obvious consequences to productivity, including: loss of man hours, absenteeism and outright increase in labour turnover and layoffs. government policies and legislation is another challenge on hrm. there are legislations on minimum wages, recruitment and selection (bothering on federal character), training and development, compensation, integration and separation of employees from the organisations. yaro (2014) listed challenges of recruitment in the public service in nigeria to include: interference by political office holders using sentiments and other primordial consideration in the recruitment process, federal character principle which prescribed ethnic balancing and equal opportunity to applicants from all geopolitical zones and recruitment on the basis of skills and technical abilities alone at the expense of positive attitude and character. these challenges are not limited to public service alone but also construction organisations in nigeria. oginni and afolabi (2012) cited the challenge of “god fatherism” and nepotism taking the place of fairness and meritocracy in recruitment and placement in manufacturing organisations in nigeria. the study bemoaned the practice of employing people without due process, and where vacancies are dully advertised, the interview is a mere formality. as such the result of most interviews does not count in the selection process. 3. research methods the study was conducted in lagos, nigeria. lagos is adjudged the commercial nerve centre of nigeria and host a number of construction firms because of the perennial volume of construction activities. the research design adopted was a questionnaire survey because of the need to gather sufficient data from large population for the purpose of generalizing the findings. in addition, phua (2013) assert that studies that are based on quantitative methods can be replicated and compared. two categories of construction organisations: client organisations involved in housing development and contractor organisations were purposively selected on the bases of the number of employee engaged and the volume of construction workload. the sample frame comprises hr managers and construction professionals in the two categories of construction organisations. a total of 98 questionnaires were retrieved out of 125 questionnaires administered which represent about 78 percent response rate. the questionnaire comprises 3 sections. section a is about demographic profile of the respondents. section b consists of 44 hrm practices frequently used in construction firm. the respondents were required to signify the frequency of use of listed hrm practices on a five point likert scale (i.e. 1 = never, 2 = seldom, 3 = sometimes, 4 = most times and 5 = all the times). section c is on the challenges of hrm practice in the nigerian construction firms rated on a five-point likert scale (i.e. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = not sure, 4 = agree and 5 = strongly agree). descriptive statistics was used to rank the variables in descending order based on the values of mean scores and standard deviation (sd). the variables with lower sd values were ranked higher. 4. results and discussion 4.1 demographic profile of respondents the sample comprised of well-experienced respondents (58.2% had more than 6 years of working experience) in the construction industry. these respondents comprise hr managers for client organisations involved in housing development and construction professionals (architects, builders, engineers) who are construction managers in contracting organisations. six percent are in executive management position, while 79% are in middle management position. in terms of academic qualification, 75% have first degree or its equivalent (hnd). in terms of the number of years the companies that participated in the study have operated in nigeria, 74.4% had over six years construction experience. this suggests that the construction organisations sampled have diverse years of construction experience involving hrm practices. 4.2 hrm practices the study sought the opinion of the respondents on the most frequently used practices in the nigerian construction firms. the findings from the survey of various hrm practices are discussed below. due to the word limit imposed by this journal, only the findings on few variables are discussed in detail. 4.2.1 recruitment and selection practices recruitment is a set of activities used to attract sufficient job candidates who have the necessary potentials, competencies and traits to fill job needs. selection on the other hand is the final step in the recruitment process, and involves choosing the candidate(s) that succeed in meeting the recruitment criteria. fourteen variables representing recruitment and selection practices were identified from literature. the result presented in table 1 shows that 8 out of 14 of the recruitment and selection practices are used most times. they include; placement of the right staff in the right department for the achievement of company general goals, and screening of candidate for vacant positions. this is consistent with huemann et al. (2007) proposal for project oriented companies where it o.j. ameh and e.i. daniel / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 46-53 49 was proposed that project personnel be assigned to project based on specific developmental need, expertise, and experience. this will bring about needed career development and improve productivity. furthermore, the result indicates that preference for university graduates over polytechnic graduates, recruitments via referrals only, preference for male applicants over female applicants and youth (under 25 years) over older applicants are sometimes used for recruitment and selection of hr in the nigerian construction firms. this is contrary to the practice in other industries like banking and manufacturing were young applicants (under 25 years) and university graduates are given preferential treatment above their counterpart who are older and had polytechnic education, in terms of job placement, remuneration and career progression. in the construction industry, skills and competencies are rated far higher than the normative paper qualification commonly used for employee selection in most other sector of the economy as reported in fajana et al. (2011). however, construction experience requirement often advertised does not favour young applicants as the years of work experience requirement are unrealistic. the finding that preference for male applicant is not often the practice, is quite comforting in view of the age long perception that construction is a male dominated industry and vulnerable to masculine stereotypes. in the banking and hospitality industry, female applicants, particularly beautiful and attractive young single ladies are preferred to attract customers (adenugba and ilupeju, 2012) . table1: recruitment and selection practices hrm practices std. deviation mean rank placement of right staff into the right department for the achievement of company general goals. 0.664 4.15 1 screening of candidate for vacant positions 0.750 4.12 2 long term planning for human resources or manpower need of the organisation 0.865 3.93 3 selection of staff based on quality & skill rather than academic qualification 0.853 3.79 4 recruitment of staff for company general goal 0.928 3.77 5 vacancies for staff are advertised internally & externally 0.930 3.58 6 staff with high reputation are attracted with high salary from other companies 0.922 3.52 7 conducting job analyses (determining the nature of each employee’s job) before assigning them 0.965 3.47 8 internal advertisement of vacancies for qualified staff 1.016 3.17 9 foreign trained applicants are given preference over local trained applicants 0.970 3.08 10 university graduates are given preference over polytechnic graduates 1.103 2.98 11 staff are recruited via referrals only 0.677 2.93 12 preference are given to male applicants over female applicants 1.178 2.79 13 young applicants below 25 years are given preference over older applicants 0.891 2.62 14 4.2.2 training and development practices training is a planned process through which an organisation facilitates employees’ learning of job-related competencies. fifteen variables on training and development practices were identified from literature (see table 2). table 2: training and development practices hrm practices std. deviation mean rank new staff are taking through company induction & training 0.632 4.37 1 orientation and training of newly recruited employees 0.616 4.31 2 training and development of staff on applicable softwares and tools for achievement of company goals 0.686 4.06 3 staff are assigned on project based on skill & expertise 0.679 4.05 4 allow staffs to be moved to another project at completion of a project 0.737 3.95 5 training and skill development of managers (leadership training) 0.736 3.93 6 providing staff with opportunities for career development 0.725 3.9 7 organising workshops, seminars and trainings to enhance employee skills 0.742 3.84 8 career/professional advancement is encouraged among staff and necessary support is given 0.8 3.83 9 new staff are assigned to older employee for mentoring 0.677 3.79 10 staff are engaged on project based on their experience on similar project 0.807 3.68 11 staff are assigned on project based on availability of personnel 0.924 3.37 12 new staff are immediately assigned to projects 0.873 3.29 13 staff are made to undergo training while waiting for the company to secure other projects 1.003 2.94 14 low performing staff are dismissed from work without analysis/warning 1.182 2.06 15 50 o.j. ameh and e.i. daniel / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 46-53 the results presented in table 2 indicate that training and development practices used most times in the nigeria construction firms are: inducting and training of newly recruited staff, orienting and training new employee, training on soft wares and use of tools, and assigning staff based on their skill and expertise. the practice of having induction and training for new staff is common practice across almost all sectors (oakland and oakland, 2001). this is consistent with huemann et al. (2007) training proposal but contrary to tabassi and abu bakar (2009) observation of hrm practice in the iranian construction industry. this finding is unexpected in view of barriers of hr development posed by smes, self-employed workers and subcontractors in the construction industry (adeagbo and oyemogun, 2014). the survey further revealed that sending staff for training while waiting for the company to secure other projects and disengaging low performing staff without prior warning is rarely the practice in the nigerian construction firm. training is the only ways by which technical skills can be transferred. incurring additional cost on training staff can be offset by encouraging job rotation and mentoring by experienced employee on the job. 4.2.3 motivation and labour relation practices motivation is external and internal factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job or organisational goal. fifteen variables were identified as motivation and labour relation practices from literature as presented in table 3. the results indicate that among the practices used most times to motivate staff are provision of appropriate and modern working tools and equipment, providing incentives and benefits to staff, and encouraging team spirit within the organisation. others include: making provisions for accommodation, feeding, transport and health insurance in staff emolument, recognising and rewarding outstanding performance and regular performance appraisal and rewarding deserving staff. this is consistent with non-financial motivational factors reported in ameh and shokumbi (2013) as most effective for enhancing output of skilled and semi-skilled construction workers. the results suggest the use of hygiene factors as proposed by herzberg in his two factor theory of motivation and physiological and safety needs in maslow’s theory. these factors may not be sufficient to motivate highly skilled employee into higher performance. labour relation is aimed at promoting industrial harmony that would boost productivity. the survey indicates that labour relation practices seldom used include: allows employee participation in only establishment-based union, negotiation of trade unions issues with management and allows employee participation in national trade unions activities. this is reasonable as there is no recognised umbrella body for construction workers in nigeria. construction activities are rarely affected by official national strike table 3: motivation and labour relation practices hrm practices std. deviation mean rank provision of appropriate / modern working tools and equipment 0.632 4.37 1 providing incentives and benefits to staff 0.883 4.28 2 team spirit within the organization is encouraged 0.794 4.27 3 provision of accommodation, feeding, transport and health insurance in staff remuneration and compensation 0.717 4.2 4 recognizing employee outstanding performance and adequately rewarding them 0.953 4.17 5 performance appraisal of staff is done regularly and deserving staff are rewarded accordingly. 0.658 4.14 6 regular review of employee pay/salary in line with economic realities 0.751 3.95 7 setting general and specific management policy for the company 0.803 3.93 8 provision of incentive and motivational schemes for employees 0.713 3.92 9 staff at various levels have access to company’s motivation & incentive schemes 0.959 3.87 10 employee feels secure in their job 0.946 3.63 11 setting the policy for collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievance handling. 1.185 3.44 12 allows employee participation in only establishment-based union 1.37 2.83 13 negotiation of trade unions issues with management 1.322 2.72 14 allows employee participation in national trade unions activities 1.443 2.66 15 4.3 challenges confronting hrm practices in the nigeria construction firm thirty-two challenges grouped under three categories: recruitment and selection, training and development, and motivation and labour relations were identified from mainstream hrm literature. the result of challenges confronting recruitment and selection practices as presented in table 4 indicates that competition for globally mobile talents, avoiding high experience labour turnover, reducing the cost per hire, recruiting the right person for a specific position, getting the right candidate for vacancies internally advertised and attracting staff with high reputation from other companies top the list. these challenges bother on issues of recruitment of desired candidate and employee turnover. these findings collaborate yaro’s (2014) study which linked recruitment challenges to primordial issues of ethnicity, nepotism, favoritism among others. the finding is also supported by madubiko’s assertion of ‘god fatherism’, which restrict the selection of desired employee. besides the recruitment practice, the issue of employee turnover in search of better work conditions and o.j. ameh and e.i. daniel / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 46-53 51 other benefits is a big challenge confronting the hrm practice in the nigeria construction industry. the most appropriate employee may be attracted to the oil and gas companies, banks or academics because of the conducive employment conditions. table 4: challenges confronting hrm practice in the construction industry challenges mean rank recruitment and selection practices competition for globally mobile talent 4.41 1 avoiding high experience labour turnover 4.26 2 reducing the cost per hire 4.26 2 recruiting the right person for a specific position 4.20 4 getting the right candidate for vacancies internally advertised. 4.03 5 attracting staff with high reputation from other companies 4.00 6 to represent the interests of employees within the framework of its primary obligation to senior management. 3.99 7 collecting the right information about jobs to prepare job descriptions. 3.95 8 making sure employees have the mechanisms required to contest unfair practices 3.85 9 outsourcing of short and long term employee services 3.54 10 recruiting staff for specific project only (i.e on shortterm bases) 3.53 11 training and development practices identifying staff skill gap 4.02 1 ensuring adequate training not to undermine department’s effectiveness 4.01 2 ensuring employees are doing their best during time of turbulence 3.99 3 making adequate budget for employee training in dwindling economy 3.96 4 training and development of staff 3.95 5 preparing appropriate and well detail job description 3.94 6 rapid advances in hr technology 3.88 7 motivation and labour relation practice maintaining company employee salary structure in a competitive labour market 4.04 1 maintaining good salary band among categories of employee in a competitive labour market 4.03 2 providing adequate retirement benefit 3.98 3 clearly defining how management should be treating employees. 3.96 4 ensuring employees do not commit any unfair labour practices 3.94 5 motivating sub-ordinates non-financially ensuring the company do not commit any unfair labour practices maintaining fair salaries among categories of employee 3.86 3.85 3.84 6 7 8 ensuring the company is not in court because of discriminatory actions 3.84 8 ensuring there is no conflicts among the sub-ordinates in the organisation 3.78 10 setting the policy for collective bargaining, contract negotiation, and grievance handling. 3.76 11 setting general and specific management policy for organisation 3.71 12 ensuring that some employees do not think that their salaries are unfair and inequitable relative to others in the organisation 3.70 13 allowing participation in only establishment-based union 3.57 14 negotiating trade unions issues with management 3.49 15 staff involvement in national trade unions activities 3.44 16 challenges confronting training and development practice include; identifying staff skill gap, ensuring adequate training so as not to undermine department effectiveness, and ensuring employees are at their best in times of turbulence among others. most training takes place on the job site and are horridly done in order not to undermine production and profitability. this account for training inadequacy and contrary to tabassi and abu barkar (2009) suggestion of conducting both short and long term training for employee in location outside the work environment. the appropriate time for training workers is during the period of low activities or while waiting for new jobs. furthermore, maintaining employee salary structure, maintaining good salary band among categories of workers, and providing adequate retirement benefits among others were the dominant motivation and labour relation challenges. this may be attributed to the absence of trade unions in construction organisations for collective bargaining. in addition, the growth in construction smes which provides competitive services, coupled with the lowest bidder wins syndrome is an impediment to uniform emolument and compensation in the construction industry. this finding unfortunately, account for the high labour turnover reported in chan et al. 2011 and mcgrathchamp et al. 2011). 5. conclusions the aim of this study was to assess the extent to which construction organisations in nigeria use the various traditional hrm practices to improve the performance of 52 o.j. ameh and e.i. daniel / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 46-53 the industry. the study found that recruitment and selection practices in the construction organisation are distinctly different from those of the manufacturing and banking industry and centres on selection of skilled and technically competent personnel for organisation general goal. the study also revealed that training practices in the construction organisation sampled is superficial, aimed at orienting the new employee to the organisation and the facilities for optimum performance rather than employee skill development. furthermore, challenges of hrm practices identified in the study are more of socio-cultural issues, and bothers on influence of political office holders and other influential personalities, government policies with regards to recruitment using federal character policy, wages and compensation policies and employee turnover in search of better condition of service. the major limitation of this study is the purposive sampling technique adopted which limits its generalization. future research should build on this by using simple random sampling technique. also, it will be interesting to investigate the impact of identified hrm practices on productivity and cost effectiveness of construction projects. references adeagbo, d.o and oyemogum, i.m, 2014. factors influencing human resource development in nigerian construction industry. in the proceedings of world sustainable building conference, barcelona, spain. adenugba, a. a. and ilupeju, c. 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(2014). role of human resource practices in enhancing organisational learning in chinese construction organisation. journal of management in engineering, 30(2), 194-20 1235-amit_rambaruth_et_al_no.2 jcbm (2022) 5(2). 20-28 contributing elements and issues to strategic management in the construction industry among small and medium enterprises: a case study in south africa's ethekwini region 1a. rambaruth, 2j.k. adam and 3s.b.n. krishna 1faculty of management sciences, entrepreneurial studies and management, durban university of technology, durban, south africa. 2department of biomedical and clinical technology, durban university of technology, durban, south africa. 3directorate for research and postgraduate support, durban university of technology, south africa. received 29 june 2022; received in revised form 27 september 2022 and 25 october 2022; accepted 03 november 2022 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.2.1235 abstract small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) are vital to the economy and have helped it grow, but they still have a high failure rate. many businesses fail within the first few months of operation due to a lack of strategic planning. this study aimed to identify persuading factors that contribute to strategic management to improve performance and categorise challenges faced by smes in implementing a strategic plan in the ethekwini region of south africa. the study adopted a quantitative research approach, and the population of interest for the research includes small and medium construction companies, which were sourced via the construction industry development board (cidb) registry. an online survey tool was used to distribute the questionnaire to 145 small and medium businesses. the data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools and exploratory factor analysis (efa). the study's findings reveal that most ethekwini-based smes in the construction industry use strategic management practices to improve their business performance. the key factors for strategic management in smes, such as improving decision-making processes, increasing productivity, and gaining a competitive advantage, demonstrated high levels of agreement among participants regarding improving business performance. this study also found widespread agreement on the challenges of implementing a strategic plan in an organisation. therefore, small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) must develop procedures and policies to deal with the difficulties that arise when drafting a strategic plan. this will ensure that strategic planning works in their operations. this can be accomplished by implementing strategic management into smes training programs offered by government and tertiary institutions that support smes. the government should also improve education and broaden its business skills curriculum. keywords: business, construction, performance, planning, strategy, south africa. 1. introduction globally, the construction industry plays a substantial role in creating jobs and contributing to the economy. the construction industry lays the foundation for resources and trade to build infrastructure; these actions stimulate and grow the economy (osunsanmi, aigbavboa and oke 2018; odiba, demian and ruikar 2021). while the construction industry adds value to the economy, several threats are experienced that influence the industry's performance. for example, the laws governing the construction industry, the preferential procurement policy framework act, 2000 which caters for historically disadvantaged individuals (hdi) in south africa and the 3 corresponding author email address: sureshk@dut.ac.za broad-based black economic empowerment act 2004, which empowers black businesses (oyewobi et al. 2019). in addition, the industry experiences poor competition, corruption, price fixing, manipulation and collusive tendering (oyewobi et al., 2019). effective management or planning in the industry can be achieved through strategic management. the emphasis placed on the need for strategic management in the construction industry has been noted by many researchers (stanitsas, kirytopoulos and leopoulos 2021). there is a lack of interest or consideration in strategic management in the construction industry; many organisations do not feel it necessary to plan strategically, and as a result, construction projects are university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm rambaruth et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 20-28 21 not managed effectively (nduati, kariuki and wanjohi 2021). small and medium enterprises play a vital role in the social-economic growth of the country. in south africa, smmes contribute approximately 52% of the country's gross domestic product (gdp). the industry has an impact on all categories. an sme is defined as a company with fewer than 200 employees, an annual turnover of less than r64 million ($3,733,803), and a total gross asset value of less than r19 million ($1,108,473), according to the national small business acts (berisha and pula 2015; nieuwenhuizen 2019). furthermore, the national small business act defines an sme in the construction industry as a company with fewer than 200 employees, an annual turnover of less than r26 million ($1,516,858), and a total gross asset value of less than r5 million ($291,703) (nieuwenhuizen 2019). smes have the capacity to reduce unemployment and poverty in the country through job creation and innovations (kibuuka and tustin 2019; nuseeb et al. 2021). small businesses tend to seize opportunities in the market and provide the necessary products and services to satisfy demand (williams jr et al., 2018). even though small to medium enterprises have contributed to the sector, many are plagued by high failure rates and poor performance (singh 2019). approximately 70% of south african smes fail in the first four years of operations (bruwer, siwangaza and yolandé 2018). one of the contributing factors to the high failure rate is the macro environment. the failure of these businesses increases the country's social ills, unemployment and crime (jayasekaraa, fernandob and ranjani 2020). strategic management refers to the science of developing a competitive advantage through planning to create value for the organisation. the process involves making, applying, and reviewing decisions in the business(abosede, obasan and alese 2016). implementing a strategic management plan is necessary to manage the uncertainty in the environment. the features of strategic management, for example, strategic planning, stakeholder management and environmental analysis play a vital role in the development of an sme (fitriasari 2020). some organisational strategies are informal and unstructured. however, they have some direction as to where they are heading compared to an organisation with no plan (nduati, kariuki and wanjohi 2021). notably, the use of strategic management in the various sectors supports the response to demands from the market, the change in technology and the variations in customers' preferences (bakar et al. 2011). technology in the fourth industrial revolution is transforming how businesses operate, and having the necessary digital tools or skills is critical to smes. having a digitalisation strategy enables a small business to be more competitive; they can set business goals that are more aligned to digital transformation, provide products and services that are more technologically advanced or set out a phased approach in transforming their operations into a digital space (fitriasari 2020). the global economic crisis affects small businesses negatively, however, the necessary mitigating strategies could assist companies in better managing potential risks (fitriasari 2020). strategic management within smes is frequently ignored. every business's goal is to be a "going concern," which means that it will continue to exist for an undetermined amount of time. a plan or strategy allows an organisation to survive and advance (ekon and isayas 2022). going through a strategic management process allows an organisation to identify its challenges and opportunities and develop a competitive advantage over rivals to achieve its goals (karadag 2015). smes that adopt a strategic objective tend to be more focused on growth within the business; it provides a formalised company structure. for example, an informal small business may want to formally register and create a business plan to attract investments (kibuuka and tustin 2019). there is a link between environmental awareness and organisation performance (hamdoun 2020). the environment and customer demands are forever changing, and adopting a strategic approach to deal with the changing climate may result in a competitive advantage for the business (chiloane-tsoka and boya, 2014). studies have shown that economic factors such as high inflation, high taxes, uncertainty, crime, volatile markets, poor service delivery, skill shortage, delay and nonpayment of service providers, and high overhead costs create loss events which threaten the existence of south african smes (bruwer, siwangaza and yolandé 2018). the internal controls and risk management methods are inadequate. even though organisations customise their approach to dealing with risk, it still does not provide reasonable assurance in achieving their objective. the significance of this study is that it encompasses the identification of persuading factors that contribute to strategic management to improve performance and the classification of challenges smes face in implementing their strategic plans. 2. literature review small and medium enterprises (smes) have contributed significantly to the growth of the economy, however, there is still a high failure rate (anamalay 2014). the national small business act of 1996 as amended in 2003 and 2004, ranks smes according to the number of employees employed, turnover and gross business value. in the construction sector, medium, small and micro enterprises consist of a total number between 5 to 200 fulltime equivalents of a paid employee, a total turnover between r200 thousand to r26 million and a total gross asset to the value of r100 thousand ($5,835) to r5 million ($291,703) (fixed property excluded). many of these small and medium enterprises (kibuuka and tustin 2019) face a threat of failure within the first few months, and the lack of strategic planning may prevent them from achieving their full potential (lestari et al. 2020). when starting a business, success or failure is always possible (anamalay 2014). challenges involve the inability to hire qualified staff, lack of funds for expansion, limited or nonexistence credit with suppliers and poor planning and management. many of these disadvantages can be linked to improper planning and misuse of funds (alshameri 2020). rambaruth et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 20-28 22 3. factors that impact the implementation of the strategic plan 3.1 strategy management the main characteristics of strategic management involve formulating, implementing, and monitoring strategies (hansen 2020). a strategy is an organisation's plan to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. furthermore, the strategic plans address several challenges an organisation may experience (zsigmond, machová and zsigmondová 2021). change in an organisation is inevitable. therefore, strategic planning and organisational change are necessary (alqershi et al., 2020). additionally, transformation within the organisation is required. the outdated procedures and plans must be replaced with new procedures to allow for unpredictable changes in the micro and macro environment. during this transition process, an organisation can deal with the challenges of organisational intricacies, globalisation, resource management, government regulations, and competitiveness. innovation and critical thinking are critical components in managing change (thompson 2017). through innovations, an organisation can improve its performance and take advantage of the opportunities presented in the markets. a lack of innovation and critical thinking leads to organisations not having new ideas to move them forward, which can also result in an organisation losing its competitive advantage. critical thinking and situation analysis of the organisation aid in establishing a vision/imaginary idea (alqershi et al. 2020). a vision is a vital component of the strategic management process (alshameri and green, 2020). a vision statement is a shared idea by leaders; it displays the desired approach or image of the organisation (alomian, alsawalhah and almarshad 2019). a vision statement is not a one-size-fits-all remedy; it may, at times, erode the organisation's credibility by not aligning with the organisation's desires, culture, and environment (mashwama, thwala and aigbavboa 2020). it is a written communication of the organisation's vision. it supports the setting of objectives for employees and guides their actions(allison 2019). communication and implementation of this vision lie in visionary leadership, where leaders communicate the organisation's intentions and persuade the employees to contribute to the organisation's vision (wenzel, stanske and lieberman 2020). 3.2 strategy implementation strategy implementation is introducing a strategy to an organisation's various departments or divisions (david 2013). the traditional methods of the strategic formulation are based on planning, resourcing and ensuring that the organisation achieves its profit margin (fuertes et al., 2020). strategic formulation and evaluation complement each other and are equally important to an organisation (ateş et al. 2020a). the implementation phase is applying the strategic plan; the process involves the application of budgets, policies, and programs; it is the translation of ideas into action in the hope of achieving a competitive advantage and success (thompson 2017). the implementation stage is considered more difficult than the formulation stage. at the formulation stage, senior management is the decision maker. the activities are controlled at the senior level compared to the implementation stage, where the strategic plans are introduced throughout the organisation (ehlers and lazenby 2010b). at this stage, the intention is to build and maintain a structure that delivers. organisations tend to get the feel of staffing requirements, target markets and customer demands (barbosa, castañeda-ayarza and ferreira 2020). strategy implementation involves the employees' commitment to strategy and voluntary efforts in contributing to the organisation's goal (ateş et al. 2020a). even though strategy implementation plays a vital role in the strategic management process, there is no definitive formula for implementing these strategies. each organisation has its way of deploying its strategy, and the context may differ from one organisation to another. however, the common thread remains; leadership and the organisation's alignment (culture, policies, procedures, and resources) are critical for implementing strategies. owning a good strategy necessarily means success; driving the strategy at implementation with the buy-in and contribution from employees remains a crucial aspect of strategy (ateş et al. 2020b). 3.3 strategic competitiveness strategy is a set of decisions and actions managers take to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. strategic choice is the examination and selection of possible strategic alternatives (parthasarthy, 2007; orozco et al., 2014). a simple definition of competitive advantage is when an organisation develops capabilities to outperform its rivals (alomian, alsawalhah and almarshad 2019). usually, managers gain a competitive advantage by effectively managing internal resources and activities (ateş et al. 2020a). having a well-defined strategy aligned with the organisation's objectives enhances competitiveness (oyewobi et al. 2019). according to dikmen et al. (2009), a clear vision or plan must be established to achieve a competitive advantage. a swot analysis provides insight into the organisation's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. from this analysis, the organisation can assess its core competencies, plan resources and identify trends in the market. some construction companies use a hybrid method to outperform rivals compared to the traditional methods of quality, product and service innovations, time, and cost to achieve a competitive advantage. this hybrid mode offers construction companies to select one approach or have a variation of importance on modes (oyewobi et al. 2019). a firm might adopt a differentiation strategy where the pricing power of the firm is low (allison 2019). formulating a strategy to gain a competitive advantage comes in various forms, for instance: 1) using innovative technology or processes. 2) the ability provides superior quality goods and services, offering faster delivery services or procuring materials of superior quality. 3) being socially responsible by rambaruth et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 20-28 23 committing to cooperate with social responsibility policies (lestari et al. 2020). strategic intelligence is the key factor in developing a competitive advantage. it provides valuable insight into technology developments, environmental changes, stakeholder management and strategies that create value. the two entrepreneurial strategy concepts that can be used to gain a competitive advantage are: 1) knowledge acquisitions refer to the organisation's knowledge base and how a resource-based view strategy can assist the organisation in hiring competent staff and a formidable team. 2) core competencies deal with the technical knowledge or knowledge that an entrepreneur may possess. this knowledge can improve the organisation's processes, which may result in a competitive advantage (chiloane-tsoka and boya 2014). 3.4 challenges faced by small and medium enterprises when starting a business, success or failure is possible (anamalay 2014). however, the challenges smes face outweighs the benefits of managing a small business. smes tend to encounter challenges in all areas of the business environment, which are linked to poor planning and management (corman and lussier, 1996). according to oyewobi et al. (2019), many of these businesses face challenges in recruiting skilled and qualified staff, limited excess financial resources, little or non-existence credit with suppliers and technological changes. the south african construction industry is known to be competitive. yet, government legislation such as preferential procurement policy framework act (pppfa) gives preference to designated groups, resulting in a competitive environment (oyewobi et al. 2019). these regulations negatively impact the economy as well as foreign investment. in addition, smes in the south african construction industry face socio-economic challenges such as poverty, skills shortages, basic education, unemployment, crime, and racism (nhleko, 2017). to overcome these challenges, small businesses must consider adopting a strategic approach to doing business (oyewobi et al., 2019). 4. research methods 4.1 inquiry form and data collection this study adopts a quantitative research approach that employs a questionnaire for data collection. the data collection questionnaire was developed based on a previous study by mori (2013). the questionnaire was divided into two parts. in the first section, the paper examines the demographics of the survey participants. strategic planning questionnaires were included in the second section of the report, which inquired about the reasons behind businesses adopting a strategic plan, the contributing factors of strategic planning in improving the performance of the enterprise, and the challenges they face when implementing a strategic plan. all the questions were closed-ended, making it possible to perform statistical analyses on the data. furthermore, this study's cronbach coefficient alpha was 0.876, which is an extremely high level of reliability (msani 2011). the study focused on a sample population of ethekwini-based contractors registered with the construction industry development board (cidb) and actively involved in civil work. the questions were short, simple, and to the point. data were retrieved using questionpro software after an online questionnaire software was used to distribute the survey to participants. the online questionnaire was sent to 145 small and medium-sized businesses, but only 105 responses were returned. as a result, the response rate was 72%. these construction firms were also cidb-registered as active industry participants. individuals involved in the company's strategic planning were asked to participate in the survey. after a week, three reminders were sent to ensure the responses were properly followed up. 4.2 data reliability cronbach's alpha is a widely used method for determining reliability. for this study, the cronbach coefficient alpha was 0.876, which is an acceptable level of reliability (table 1) table 1: cronbach alpha results section number of items cronbach's alpha b2 factors that drove your business to adopt a strategic plan 6 0.605 b3 contributions of strategic planning in improving the performance of your enterprise 9 0.881 b10 challenges facing the implementation of a strategic plan in an organisation 10 0.861 reliability statistics overall 25 0.876 rambaruth et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 20-28 24 table 2: factors that influenced the company's decision to implement a strategic plan factors perception of impact* 1 2 3. 4 5 no. mean item score rank level of contribution competitiveness 0 0 8 33 61 102 4.51 1 high limited firm resources 2 4 22 39 35 102 3.99 2 average globalisation 1 7 22 43 28 101 3.89 3 average organisation intricacies 3 8 23 44 26 104 3.79 4 average government contribution 8 7 17 35 31 98 3.75 5 average *1= very low, 2 = low, 3= average, 4= high, 5= very high 4.3 ethics approval the study was approved by the durban university of technology ethics committee (irec: 18frec). before the study, each participant was given an informed consent form to complete, ensuring their safety and privacy. 4.4 data analysis the data for the study were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. the raw data is gathered and then transferred to a computer spreadsheet. the data for this study were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including cross-tabulation, correlation, chisquare test, and cronbach alpha. the cronbach alpha was used to determine the data's internal consistency within a group. 5. results and discussions only 105 of the 145 questionnaires sent to the samples were returned. as a result, 72% of participants responded to the questionnaires. figure 1 illustrates the size of the company in terms of employees. figure 1: number of employees according to the study, 90.5 % of the companies had no more than 20 employees (p< 0.001). figure 2: estimated turnover for the financial year figure 2 presents the estimated turnover for the previous financial year. more than 80% of respondents said their companies' annual turnover was less than 3 million rands ($175,022). while 12.4 per cent of the respondents said their company's turnover was between 3 million and 6 million rands ($350,044), 2.9 per cent said it was between 6 million and 26 million rands ($1,516,818), and 1.9 per cent said it was more than 26 million rands. this trend could be explained by the fact that the government is not spending enough on infrastructure projects above 3 million, resulting in a significantly low contractor turnover for the financial year (van der waldt and fourie,2022). 5.1 execution of strategic plans factors that drove small and medium enterprises to adopt a strategic plan are summarised in table 2. according to the results shown in table 2, the major perceived contributors influencing the company's decision to implement a strategic plan are high-ranked factors such as competitiveness and leading-edge technology, which showed high levels of perception. the results for limited firm resources show average to high levels of perception, indicating that the factor impacts the decision to adopt a business strategy. this implies that businesses can effectively manage their limited resources and achieve organisational goals through strategic planning (mori, 2013). 0 5 6 20 21 50 51 200 > 200 45,7 44,8 6,7 1,9 1,0 % number of employees 42,9 40,0 12,4 2,9 1,9 less than r 200 000 r 200 001 – r 3 000 000 r 3 000 001 r 6 000 000 r 6 000 001 r 26 000 000 more than r 26 000 000 % estimated turnover rambaruth et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 20-28 25 table 3: strategic planning that ensures an organisation's success factors perception of impact* 1 2 3 4 5 no mean item score rank level of contribution enhanced decision-making 0 0 8 43 52 103 4.43 1 high competitive advantage 0 0 9 47 48 104 4.37 2 high improved turnover 0 3 13 41 46 103 4.26 3 high improved production 0 3 14 40 47 104 4.25 4 high enhanced customers experience 1 2 15 40 45 103 4.22 5 high enhanced quality of goods and services 0 4 15 40 43 102 4.19 6 high enhanced organisations capabilities 1 5 17 36 45 104 4.14 7 high enhanced brand credibility 0 4 20 38 42 104 4.13 8 high improved employee morale 1 2 26 33 42 104 4.08 9 high *1= very low, 2 = low, 3= average, 4= high, 5= very high figure 3: improvement of new technology in adopting a new strategic plan 5.2 factors affecting the organisation's ability to perform the results suggest that approximately 92% (table 3) of the respondents agree that strategic planning has improved the decision-making process of the business, and about 91% of the respondents concur that having a competitive advantage enhances the company's performance. according to table 3, all factors show high contribution levels that planning helped businesses make better decisions. according to the report, this factor significantly impacts the company's performance. when it comes to decision-making, strategic management uses a methodical decision-making process that is objective, systematic, and logical (christou 2015). the organisation must make long-term decisions and plans as part of the strategic management process. moreover, these decisions establish the organisation's vision, mission, and goals (mori, 2013). 5.3 challenges in implementing a strategic plan the results in figure 4 indicate that 33% of the respondents agree and 40.8% strongly agree that poor communication negatively influenced the implementation of a strategic plan. in comparison, 14.6% of the respondents remained neutral. the statement shows (significantly) higher levels of agreement, indicating that the factor contributes to improving the business performance. communication and stakeholders play a vital role in creating organisational wealth. moreover, communications are equally important in building relationships (ehlers and lazenby 2010a). management needs to understand the needs or concerns of the stakeholders and have a clear communication channel when formulating strategic plans for the business. also, the strategic plan must show employees how their roles impact the vision and success of the company (mori 2013). figure 4: communication skills' impact on strategic plan implementation 5,8 5,8 14,6 33 40,8 poor communication % strongly disagree disagree neutral agree strongly agree 0 1 15,2 40,4 43,4 new technology % strongly disagree disagree neutral agree strongly agree rambaruth et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 20-28 26 the results for lack of expertise indicate that 35.9% of the respondents agree and 46.6% strongly agree that a lack of expertise negatively influences the implementation of a strategic plan. in comparison, 12.6% of the respondents remained neutral. the construction industry is inexperienced in strategic planning procedures and lacks strategic managerial skills (gunduz and abdi, 2020). managers and business owners should undertake the necessary entrepreneurial and management studies to gain an overall knowledge of strategic planning. above and beyond, a lack of specialised expertise and inadequate knowledge of the planning process is harmful to a business (wang, walker and redmond 2007). other challenges and results are presented in figure 5. 6. conclusions and recommendations the current study focused on the factors that influenced a company's decision to adopt a strategic plan, the role of strategic planning in improving a company's performance, and the challenges associated with a strategic plan in place. according to the study's findings, ethekwini-based smes in the construction industry use strategic management practices in their businesses and have improved their performance because of this implementation. the study also found that strategic planning can reduce environmental uncertainty and provide a structured approach to addressing problems. furthermore, strategic management encourages smes to plan and commit to short and long-term goals, which helps them grow. as a result, smes are more likely to achieve business success through strategic management. small businesses should develop procedures and policies to deal with the challenges of implementing a strategic plan. despite these findings, success is not guaranteed even when companies use strategic planning. businesses may not achieve their objectives due to poor implementation or a lack of strategic management expertise. more research should be conducted to evaluate the need for strategic management to improve smes' business performance and long-term government investment in the construction industry. furthermore, the study has three main limitations. 1) the study was conducted in the ethekwini region of south africa and did not represent other municipalities or provinces. furthermore, it does not represent the entire construction industry.2) the study has focused on smes in the construction industry and did not fully represent other industries in the country, such as manufacturing or agriculture. 3) the study only concentrated on smes registered with 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in university laboratories and their effects on the indoor air quality e.i. nkeleme1, i. mbamali2 and w.m.w. shakantu3 1 & 3department of construction management, faculty of engineering, the built environment and information technology, nelson mandela metropolitan university, south africa. 2department of building, ahmadu bello university, nigeria. received 30 august 2021; received in revised form 04 september 2021, 11 november 2022 and 08 december 2022; accepted 08 december 2022 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.2.1117 abstract combustion is one of the fundamental processes in learning and teaching in laboratories that leads to the release of gaseous pollutants that are both hazardous and a threat to the environment and health of individuals. this paper sought to measure the amount of combustion pollutants generated and their effects on the indoor air quality of a typical university laboratory using some selected laboratories in ahmadu bello university zaria as a case study. the combustion pollutants were measured using an imr 1400c gas analyser. at the same time, its effects were assessed using a well-structured questionnaire designed and administered to hundred and twenty-seven laboratory users who were randomly selected. data collected from the questionnaires were analysed using computer-based spss software. the results revealed that co during combustion exceeded the ashrae 62 and naaqs limit of 9ppm, reaching up to 45ppm at some points; also, oxygen was observed to be at a critical level of 20.9% and at some point falling below the limit to 20.4%. it was also observed that fatigue (rii: 0.81) is the most prominent symptom of poor indoor air quality during combustion, among other symptoms like coughing and sneezing, dryness and irritation of eyes and throat, sinus congestion, shortness of breath and headache, arranged in the order of intensity. the absence of functional fume hoods, laboratory congestion, and inadequate ventilation systems intensify the discomforting effect of combustion-generated pollutants in laboratories. thus, it is recommended that fume hoods should be well maintained for functionality and installed in laboratories where they do not exist (chemistry lab i). finally, providing adequate ventilation systems in the laboratories would help increase safety in labs for learning and teaching purposes. keywords: combustion generated pollutants, indoor air quality, measurement of pollutants. 1. introduction interest in the role of air quality in health and disease dates back to antiquity. in the treatise on "airs, water, and places", hippocrates drew attention to the impact of polluted air, among other transmission media, on disease burden. for centuries, the emphasis on pollutionassociated air problems was mainly placed on outdoor air; concerns about indoor air quality are relatively recent in comparison (david, 2010). the national health and medical research council (nhmrc, 2009) defines indoor air as air within a building occupied for at least one hour by people of varying states of health. this can include the office, 1 corresponding author email address: nkebishop@gmail.com classroom, transport facility, shopping centre, hospital, and/or home. indoor air quality (iaq) can be defined as the totality of attributes of indoor air that affect a person's health and well-being. similarly, the environmental protection agency (epa) defines iaq as the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants (usepa, 2020) indoor air pollution refers to indoor air's chemical, biological and physical contaminations (nhmrc, 2009). it may result in adverse health effects. in developing countries like nigeria, the primary source of indoor air pollution is biomass which contains suspended particulate university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 45 matter like nitrogen oxide (no2), sulphur dioxide (so2), carbon monoxide (co), formaldehyde, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pahs). however, in industrialised countries, in addition to no2, co and formaldehyde, radon, asbestos, mercury, human-made mineral fibres, volatile organic compounds, allergens, tobacco smoke, bacteria, and viruses are the main contributors to indoor air pollution (david, 2010). a growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the air within homes and other buildings can be more polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialised cities. in addition to daily human activities that lead to the generation of indoor air pollutants, combustion sources and activities, especially in laboratories, contribute to carbon dioxide (co2), sulfur dioxide (so2), co, nitrogen dioxide (no2), and particulate matter (pm) emissions into indoor air environments ( awbi, 2003). the intrinsic nature of the health effects from indoor air pollutants is that they may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later. immediate effects may appear after a single or repeated exposure (tran, park and lee, 2020). these include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable. sometimes the treatment eliminates the person's exposure to the source of the pollution if it can be identified. the world health organisation, as of 2002, estimated that indoor air pollution is responsible for roughly 1.6 million deaths each year. however, the recent update, as of 2020, shows that indoor air pollution (iap) is responsible for the deaths of 3.8 million people annually (who, 2020), with its symptoms ranging from acute lower respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and other diseases. indoor air pollution from biomass contributes to about 2.6 per cent of the global disease burden. hromadka, korposh, partridge, james, davis, crump, and tatam (2017) indicated that decreased iaq could negatively affect human health by causing building-associated illness. in an academic environment, laboratories are a significant place where combustion activities are mainly carried out, usually during experimental activities. according to merriam-webster, a laboratory is a room or building equipped for scientific research, teaching, or manufacturing drugs and chemicals. from the definition, it can be established that combustion is one of the basic processes in a laboratory. thus, the question now is: 'how safe is the indoor air quality of such laboratories owing to the activities carried out in them? this paper measures the combustion-generated pollutants in a typical university laboratory after an experiment requiring combustion activities. it also examines the laboratory users' perception of the impact of combustion-generated pollutants on the indoor air quality of the laboratories, considering the users' length of exposure during experimental activities. 2. literature review the concept of indoor air pollution is a contemporary one, which has stirred up much research with the general aim of emphasising the health impact of poor indoor air and the identification of the major pollutants of indoor air. previous studies are reviewed in this section. saravanan (2004), in a general study of indoor air, established that the significant factors that determine indoor air quality are: i) the nature of outdoor air quality around the building; ii) the ventilation rate of the building; iii) the materials used in the construction of the building (presence of chemicals); iv) the activities that go on inside the interior (cleaning, cooking, heating, etc.); and, v) the use of household chemicals. saravanan (2004) identified some of the sources of the pollutants as; radioactivity (the emissions from uranium in the soil or rocks on which the houses are built, volatile organic compounds (vocs) usually from aliphatic and aromatic compounds, chlorinated compounds with formaldehyde being in many locations). the emphasis of the sources of indoor air pollutants was on indoor combustion activities. the combustion of fuels, such as oil, gas, kerosene, and so forth, inside a building contributes to the concentration of vocs and is also a source of stable inorganic gases. the common indoor pollutants due to the combustion of fuels are particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulphur, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and other odour-causing chemicals. saravanan (2004) concluded that indoor air pollution is one of the significant problems that must be solved since a large part of human life is spent indoors. all necessary precautions to eliminate or minimise the harmful effects of indoor air pollution need to be taken. to help elucidate more fully the extent of hazards caused by the combustion of pollutants in china, smith and zhang (2005) studied indoor air pollution from household fuel combustion. they estimated that air pollution from solid waste in china is responsible for 420,000 premature deaths annually, with more than 300,000 attributed to the pollution of the urban outdoor environment. smith and zhang (2005) reviewed nearly 200 publications in china reporting health effects, emission characteristics, and/or indoor air pollutants concentrations associated with solid fuels. smith and zhang (2005) also took measurements in 122 individual studies, concluding that indoor air pollutant concentrations exceeded health standards in many households. in like manner, stanley (2010) assessed the environmental suitability of electric power generators for power supply to buildings to devise appropriate control measures for a cleaner environment. the assessment was for buildings within the kaduna metropolis, and the approach adopted was the use of a well-structured questionnaire and an imr 1400c combustion gas analyser. the research results showed that the level of awareness of health hazards caused by generators was high and that the mean concentration of so2 and nox indoors was higher than the fepa limits (0.01 ppm and 0.04-0.06 ppm), respectively. the research also revealed that none of the ambient pollutants at the point source met the who and fepa limits. 46 nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 the above review itemises the contribution of various researchers in evaluating the impact of combustion activities on indoor air quality and environmental conditions. and at this point, it can be seen that combustion is a significant source of pollutants generation in the environment. thus, this paper seeks to evaluate the impact of combustion activities in the laboratories on the indoor air quality of the laboratories. 2.1 hvac requirements for a laboratory several types of research have been done into the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (hvac) requirements for a laboratory, emphasising the energy usage common to laboratories and the comfort requirements. according to lindsay (2010), an hvac engineer's prime concern when planning or constructing any laboratory building is the safety of the building's occupants. the system must operate to specification and meet appropriate regulations. to this end, many older laboratories were designed with little regard for energy efficiency. that's no longer obtaining, and designers must account for operating costs and functionality (lindsay, 2010). a laboratory building consumes five to ten times more energy than a typical office building or school. hvac systems consume almost 70% of a laboratory's energy. according to labs21 (2010), a voluntary partnership program is dedicated to improving u.s. laboratories' environmental performance. the majority of this hvac energy consumption originates from cooling (22%), and ventilation (44%) loads that help the laboratories function safely (lindsay, 2010). the high energy use can be attributed to high airchange requirements, large internal heat gains from laboratory equipment, and, in many cases, continuous hours of operation (gordon, 2010). vendors are developing new technologies or adapting older ones to help reduce hvac energy consumption with a push toward a more energy-efficient laboratory environment. lindsay (2010)'s emphasis was more in line with hvac requirements for laboratories as an energy-saving measure and not on the adequacy of indoor air quality for laboratories. 3. methodology a measure of the amount of the combustion-generated pollutants in selected laboratories was conducted with the help of a sensitive gas analyser, the "imr 1400c", to establish the presence and amount of the combustion pollutants present in the air before, during, and after the combustion processes. the gas analyser was used to measure and calculate the amount of the following: oxygen (o2), carbon monoxide (co), carbon dioxide (co2), oxides of nitrogen (nox), and sulfur dioxide (so2). in addition to the measurement, a survey of laboratory users' (staff and students) perception of the impact of combustion-generated pollutants on indoor air quality was conducted. a well-structured questionnaire was designed and administered to staff and students (laboratory users) of ahmadu bello university, zaria. a total of 140 questionnaires were distributed, of which 127, representing 90.7%, were completed correctly and returned. the major issues addressed in the survey include the presence of the necessary heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; the presence and functional state of the fume hoods; and other related factors like the frequency of maintenance of the hvac system that can influence the effects of combustion pollutants on the indoor air quality. 3.1 data analysis procedure the presence and the number of pollutants determined by the imr 1400c gas analyser were tabulated along with the acceptable limit provided by the ashera standard 62 for a healthy environment. also, most of the questionnaire questions assessed some indices of utilisation on a five (5) point likert scale. the data analysis, therefore, employed the following steps. a. computation of the mean using the weighted average formula relative importance index (rii) = ∑𝒇𝒙 ∑𝒇 × 𝟏 𝒌 where, ∑fx = is the total weight given to each attribute by the respondents. ∑f = is the total number of respondents in the sample. k = is the highest weight on the likert scale. results were classified into three categories as follows (othman et al., 2005) when: rii<0.60 -it indicates low frequency in use 0.60≤rii<0.80 -it indicates high frequency in use. rii≥0.80 – it indicates a very high frequency in use. 4. data presentation, analysis, and discussion the results of the measurements and analysis of the questionnaires are presented in this section under two broad headings the presentation of the combustiongenerated pollutant measurement and the results of the questionnaire analysis. 4.1 presentation of measurements of the combustiongenerated pollutants data from the result of the measurements taken are presented in tables 1-6 from table 1, it can be observed that co often exceeded the permissible limit, especially during the combustion process, rising to (45ppm against the 9ppm limit). it can also be observed that the oxygen levels were at the critical level and even a few points below the limit, increasing the tendency of incomplete combustion. table 2 shows that the most reoccurring pollutant that exceeds the limit is co, especially during the combustion process rising to (45ppm). table 2 shows the measurement of the pollutants at three different points before the combustion activities and during and after the nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 47 combustion activities. the trend of rising and falling of the amount of pollutants within the interior is also presented in table 2. these measurements are peculiar to the sbrs lab ii. table 3 presents the number of pollutants measured at three different points within the chemistry sbrs lab iii before, during, and after the combustion activities in the laboratory. from table 3, it can be observed that co is the pollutant that is constantly generated beyond the provision of the limit (9ppm) in the three different sessions of the experiments. it is observed that there was no so pollutant recorded throughout the first session of experimentation, and there is a varying level of oxygen, usually falling below the limit. table 4 presents the amount of pollutants measured at three different points within the chemistry multi-purpose lab before, during, and after the combustion activities in the laboratory. from table 4, it can be observed that co is the pollutant that is more generated even in the three different sessions of the experiments. table 1: results of the combustion pollutant measurement in chemistry lab i along with ashrae requirement and naaqs standard session chemistry lab i pollutants (o2 in % others in ppm) measurement 3 hours before combustion measurement during combustion measurement 3 hours after combustion ashrae acceptable limit (o2 in % others in ppm) a1 a2 a3 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 c3 1 o2 (%) 20.90 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0.0 0.0 0.0 7 13 23 02 03 02 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 2.1 1.0 2.1 3.2 4.2 1.0 0 0.0 ≤ 1000ppm 2 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 1 0 45 23 11 09 02 07 ≤9ppm nox 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.1 0.0 0.1 02 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 2.1 1.1 2.1 1.3 1.1 3.1 2.0 1.0 2.1 ≤ 1000ppm 3 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0.0 1.0 0.0 7.0 11.0 13.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm source: field survey (2020) where: a1, a2, a3, b1, b2, b3, c1, c2, and c3 are all measurement points, while 1, 2, and 3 are experiment sessions. table 2: results of the combustion pollutant measurement sbrs lab ii along with ashrae requirement and naaqs standard session sbrs lab ii pollutants (o2 in% others in ppm) measurement 3 hours before combustion measurement during combustion measurement 3 hours after combustion ashrae acceptable limit (o2 in % others in ppm) a1 a2 a3 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 c3 1 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 0 0 7 13 23 02 03 02 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 2.1 4.2 2.0 21. ≤ 1000ppm 2 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 1 0 45 23 11 09 02 07 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 ≤ 1000ppm 3 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 13.0 14.0 11.0 0.0 0.0 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 2.1 3.2 4.2 2.1 2.3 4.2 2.1 2.1 3.1 ≤ 1000ppm source: field survey (2020) 48 nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 table 3: results of the combustion pollutant measurement in sbrs lab iii along with ashrae requirement and naaqs standard session sbrs lab iii pollutants( o2 in% others in ppm) measurement 3 hours before combustion measurement during combustion measurement 3 hours after combustion ashrae acceptable limit (o2 in% others in ppm) a1 a2 a3 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 c3 1 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 0 0 7 13 23 02 03 02 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm 2 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 1 0 45 23 11 09 02 07 ≤9ppm nox 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 1.2 3.2 2.1 3.2 6. 5 ≤ 1000ppm 3 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0.0 0.0 0.0 45.0 25 13 3.0 5.0 1.0 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm source: field survey (2020) where: a1, a2, a3, b1, b2, b3, c1, c2, and c3 are all measurement points, while 1, 2, and 3 are experiment sessions. table 4: results of the combustion pollutant measurement in chemistry multi-purpose lab along with ashrae requirement and naaqs standard session chemistry multi-purpose lab pollutants (o2 in% others in ppm) measurement 3 hours before combustion measurement during combustion measurement 3 hours after combustion ashrae acceptable limit (o2 in% others in ppm) a1 a2 a3 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 c3 1 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 0 0 27 43 88 8 03 02 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.3 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm 2 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 1 0 45 23 11 09 02 07 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 ≤ 1000ppm 3 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0.0 0.0 0.0 32.0 45 76.0 32.0 0.0 0.0 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm source: field survey (2020) nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 49 table 5: results of the combustion pollutant measurement physical chemistry lab along with ashrae requirement and naaqs standard session physical chemistry lab pollutants (o2 in% others in ppm) measurement 3 hours before combustion measurement during combustion measurement 3 hours after combustion ashrae acceptable limit (o2 in% others in ppm) a1 a2 a3 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 c3 1 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 0 0 7 13 23 02 03 02 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm 2 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 1 0 45 23 11 09 02 07 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 3.1 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm 3 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0.0 0.0 1.0 14.0 38.0 42.0 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 4.2 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm source: field survey (2020) where: a1, a2, a3, b1, b2, b3, c1, c2, c3 are all points of measurements while 1,2,3 are sessions of experiment. table 6: results of the combustion pollutant measurement chemistry masters student lab along with ashrae requirement and naaqs standard session chemistry masters student lab pollutants (o2 in% others in ppm) measurement 3 hours before combustion measurement during combustion measurement 3 hours after combustion ashrae acceptable limit (o2 in% others in ppm) a1 a2 a3 b1 b2 b3 c1 c2 c3 1 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 0 0 7 13 23 02 03 02 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 4.2 3.1 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.2 2.1 3.2 1.2 ≤ 1000ppm 2 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 0 1 0 45 23 11 09 02 07 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 0.0 0.0 0.0 11.0 9.0 13.0 5.0 6.0 4.0 ≤ 1000ppm 3 o2 (%) 20.9 20.9 20.4 20.7 20.7 20.9 20.9 20.8 20.9 ≥ 20.9% co 2.1 3.1 2.1 12.0 45.0 32 4.0 2.0 2.0 ≤9ppm nox 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ≤0.053ppm so2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 ≤ 0.14ppm co2 1.2 2.1 2.1 3.2 4.5 32.7 2.0 4.9 3.2 ≤ 1000ppm source: field survey (2020) table 5 presents the amount of pollutants measured at three different points within the physical chemistry 50 nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 laboratory before, during, and after the combustion activities in the laboratory. table 5 shows that, similar to the other laboratories studied, co is a pollutant frequently generated beyond the limit provision (9ppm). it can also be observed that the oxygen content as measured was not consistent throughout the measurement. while table 6 presents the amount of pollutants measured at three different points within the chemistry masters' student laboratory before, during, and after the combustion activities in the laboratory. also, it was observed that co is the pollutant that is more generated even in the three different sessions of the experiments. 4.2 presentation of the results of the questionnaire analysis data from the expert opinion survey are presented in table 7. table 7 shows that most respondents opined that their work entails combustion (74.0%). also, as opined by the respondents, the gas burner is the major heatgenerating device frequently used in laboratories (70.1%). concerning the presence of a functional fume hood installed in the laboratory, most respondents (with a frequency of 47.2%) were unaware of its existence and functional status; this corresponds to 47.2% of the respondents. combustion and ventilation in laboratories the respondents' perceptions concerning the impact of combustion activities in the laboratory and the evaluation of the adequacy of the ventilation system were also assessed. table 8 below presents the results of the assessment. table 8 reveals that combustion is a source of discomfort, as observed by 92.1% of the respondents. also, table 8 shows that combustion was more discomforting of all the processes identified (54.3%). the ventilation system is inadequate, as attested to by 79.5% of the respondents. table 7: laboratory combustion activities s/n variable option frequency percentage (%) 1 combustion in laboratories: a) yes 94 74.0 b) no 33 26.0 total 127 100 2 heat generating device frequently used : a) stove 16 12.3 b) gas burner 89 70.1 c) hot plates 22 17.3 d) candle 0 0 total 127 100 3 presence of functional fume hood: a) yes 40 31.5 b) no 27 21.3 c) not aware 60 47.2 total 127 100 source: field survey (2020) table 8: combustion and ventilation in laboratories s/n variable option frequency percentage (%) 1 combustion as a source of discomfort: a) yes 117 92.1 b) no 10 7.9 total 127 100 2 the process that poses more discomfort: a) combustion 69 54.3 b) filtration 0 0 c) lab cleaning 58 45.7 d) distillation 0 0 total 127 100 3 presence of ventilation system: e) yes 40 31.5 f) no 87 68.5 total 127 100 4 adequacy of ventilation system during combustion: a) yes 26 20.5 b) no 101 79.5 total 127 100 source: field survey (2020) nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 51 table 9: ranking of the health symptoms of poor indoor air quality source: field survey, (2020) where: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree table 10: hvac and combustion related source: field survey (2020) where: 1= not a cause, 2 = not a major cause, 3 = barely a cause, 4 = a cause, 5 = always a cause table 11: remedy to poor indoor air quality weighting/response frequency remedy 1 2 3 4 5 (∑f) ∑fx mean rii rank provision of adequate hvac system 07 10 32 78 127 555 4.37 0.87 1st use and maintenance of functional fume hoods 14 15 40 58 127 509 4.00 0.80 3rd adequate airflow during combustion 13 14 28 72 127 540 4.25 0.85 2nd use of excellent combustion equipment 14 21 32 60 127 505 3.98 0.79 4th orientation of both staff and students on the danger of poor indoor air quality 32 9 28 58 127 461 3.63 0.73 5th source: field survey (2020) where: 1 = not effective, 2 = no effect, 3 = slightly effective, 4 = effective, 5 = very effective weighting/response frequency symptoms 1 2 3 4 5 (∑f) ∑fx mean rii rank dryness and irritation 16 8 86 17 127 485 3.82 0.76 3rd headache 11 10 20 66 20 127 455 3.58 0.72 8th fatigue 3 15 80 29 127 516 4.07 0.81 1st shortness of breath 23 26 50 28 127 464 3.65 0.73 6th hypersensitivity and allergies 14 07 28 78 3 127 439 3.46 0.69 10th sinus congestion 10 08 02 90 17 127 477 3.76 0.75 4th coughing and sneezing 03 17 82 25 127 490 3.85 0.77 2nd dizziness 15 10 12 74 16 127 447 3.52 0.70 9th nausea 8 17 34 63 05 127 421 3.31 0.66 13th blurred vision 16 02 22 57 30 127 464 3.65 0.73 6th pains and discomfort 06 17 22 78 04 127 438 3.45 0.69 10th heartburn 10 29 04 67 17 127 433 3.41 0.68 12th sneezing and chest tightness 02 26 07 68 24 127 467 3.68 0.74 5th fainting 29 60 22 07 09 127 288 2.27 0.45 14th weighting/response frequency causes 1 2 3 4 5 (∑f) ∑fx mean rii rank overcrowding in labs 07 40 80 127 581 4.57 0.91 1st combustion activities 02 73 52 127 558 4.39 0.89 2nd inadequate ventilation 10 06 67 44 127 526 4.14 0.83 3rd prolonged and reoccurring combustion 05 20 12 58 30 127 463 3.65 0.73 4th non-functional fume hoods 12 13 12 68 22 127 456 3.59 0.72 5th too humid air 03 26 70 28 127 377 2.97 0.59 6th faulty burners 04 40 62 21 127 354 2.79 0.56 7th poor air movement 54 67 06 127 333 2.62 0.52 8th unvented combustion equipment 58 20 13 27 09 127 290 2.29 0.46 9th 52 nkeleme et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 44-53 health symptoms of poor indoor air quality several health symptoms of poor indoor air quality were assessed, and the respondents ranked these symptoms. table 9 presents the ranking of the various health symptoms that serve as indicators of poor indoor air quality. table 9 shows that the respondents ranked fatigue (with rii= 0.81) as the most reoccurring health symptom. also, it is observed that only symptoms like fainting and nausea had a relative importance index of less than 0.6, indicating that they are not commonly observed symptoms. also, from the mean values, it can be deduced that the values were closer to the likert weighting of four, indicating that the respondents' general opinion was that the symptoms indicated poor indoor air quality. hvac and combustion-related factors that alter laboratories’ indoor air quality the questionnaire also sought the opinion of the respondents concerning how the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (hvac) system, as well as combustion, contribute to the poor indoor air quality of laboratories. the respondents' opinions and ranking thereof are presented in table 10. table 10 shows that overcrowding in labs (rii=0.91) was ranked the first cause of poor indoor air quality. this is followed closely by combustion activities (rii=0.89). it can also be seen that other factors, such as faulty burners, too-humid air, and unvented combustion, though factors, did not have an intense effect owing to their relative importance indexes (rii), which are below 0.6. regarding the mean, it can be observed that the values were closer to the weighting four (4), indicating that the respondents' opinion was that the identified factors are all causes of poor indoor air quality. 4.3 remedial action to poor indoor air quality in laboratories table 11 gives the respondents' ranking of the various remedial measures for the poor indoor air quality identified. it also provides the percentage with response per option and the mean. table 11 shows that the respondents' highest-ranked remedy to the poor indoor air quality is the provision of adequate heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (rii= 0.87). also, from the mean values, it can be observed that, in general, the respondents opined that the identified remedy were all feasible options as the mean value is closer to the likert weighting of four. 4.4 discussion of results the discussions are based on the experimental survey of the laboratories under study. the study revealed that combustion-generated indoor air pollutants in the laboratory were more co and nox (table 4); the mean value of so was within the normal range as specified by the ashrae 62 and within the requirements for who and fema limits. however, the limit for pollutants like co was above the limit specified by this standard, thus making exposure to such gaseous pollutants very hazardous to the health of both the students and the staff. results of the measure (tables 1 to 4) reveal that during the combustion activities, the amount of co increases far beyond the naaqs standard of 9ppm for all the labs except the master's lab, where a water bath is used as a source of heat generation as against others that used gas burners. also, from the result, it can be observed that the multi-purpose chemistry lab had the highest amount of pollutants owing to the population of students and the non-functional fume hoods. also, from the experimental results, it can be established that the laboratory oxygen level was at the critical limit (20.9%), with the value dropping at specific points. this can account for the incomplete combustion leading to the massive generation of co (up to 45ppm), which is far beyond the limit (9ppm). 5. conclusions and recommendations the following can be concluded from the results of the experimental work and questionnaire survey undertaken in the research. the major reoccurring pollutant during combustion activities exceeds ashrae provision for a working area in co. to a large extent, other pollutants are present but at a bearable level. carbon monoxide is dangerous because it inhibits the blood's ability to carry oxygen to vital organs such as the heart and brain. inhaled co combines with the oxygen-carrying haemoglobin of the blood and forms carboxyhemoglobin (cohb) which is unusable for transporting oxygen. combustion activities are practically unavoidable in teaching and learning practical science courses. the primary source of heat for the combustion activities is the gas burner, except in a few cases of a limited gas supply when the water bath is used as an alternative heat generating source. fatigue is one of the most reoccurring health symptoms of poor indoor air quality due to combustion activities. however, other health symptoms are headache, dryness and irritation, sinus congestion, blurred vision, sneezing, and chest pain. the study recommends that lab managers should pay proper attention to maintaining the laboratories' heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (hvac) systems, particularly the fume hoods. it is also recommended that a fume hood be installed in the laboratories without the fume hoods, such as chemistry lab i, where there are no fume hoods. this is to take care of the gaseous pollutants from combustion activities. as a matter of 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(accessed: 28 january 2020). zhang, j. and smith, k. r., 2005. indoor air pollution from household fuel combustion in china the 10th international conference on indoor air quality and climate september 4-9, beijing. 4. paper 1269 sources and control measures of crystalline silica dust_rev jcbm (2022) 6(1). 43-52 sources and control measures of crystalline silica dust in a road and building project in zambia 1prisca tente, 2erastus misheng’u mwanaumo and 3wellington didibhukut thwala 1 & 2university of zambia 2 & 3university of south africa received 28 september 2022; received in revised form 22 january 2023, 01 april 2023 and 01 june 2023; accepted 22 june 2023 https://doi.org/10.1564/jcbm.6.2.1269 abstract construction works bring about silica dust hazards, part of the dust produced by staple materials such as concrete and sand. silica dust, when inhaled in high quantities or for an extended period, is lethal to workers as it causes silicosis, which has no known cure. several studies have reported high exposures of silica dust in construction, especially where there are no controls. as zambia sets to become a middle-income country by 2030, increased projects have increased exposure to silica dust and chemicals that cause diseases. there is a likelihood of an increase in the generation of dust and possible contact with silica dust and chemical irritants. therefore, the paper examines the controls used in the construction industry in zambia and recommends improvements for silica dust exposure controls to safeguard workers' health. a cross-sectional study was conducted on a building and a road project as two case studies. carpenters, butchers, tilers, bricklayers, demolition workers, painters and labourers were purposively sampled. the total sample size was 100 workers, 50 for each case study. the sample size was established at 10% of the estimated population of 1012. moreover, the sample size was limited to 100 because the number of workers was reduced due to covid-19 by the ministry of health. data was collected using overt observation using an observation schedule and a camera as data collecting tools. the data were qualitatively analysed using the constant comparative method. the results showed that the combination of water and dust or face masks was the common control used on both sites. despite the use of water and facemasks, there was still high exposure to dust and chemicals because of inadequate controls. skilled well-fitted, recommended personal protective equipment was rarely provided. moreover, the respiratory masks commonly used were covid-19 facemasks which were inadequate for silica dust reduction. the only controls used were engineering control and the use of ppe. the findings suggest that workers are at risk of health problems in the zambian construction industry brought about by inhaling dust. the combination of all methods in the hierarchy of controls and the incorporation of all construction stakeholders in ways of silica dust exposure controls are recommended. the study serves as an awareness to construction stakeholders of the health concern of high dust exposure levels and inadequate controls. there is a need for measuring actual concentrations of crystalline silica dust with and without controls. keywords: controls, construction, observation, silica dust, zambia 1.0 introduction the importance of the construction industry is evidenced in many infrastructure developments, such as roads, bridges, housing units and shopping malls (tente and muya, 2014). however, a staple hazard of construction activities is respirable crystalline silica dust (rcs). the rcs is part of dust, which is generated from many processes in different industries of the world economies, such as agriculture, mining, construction and manufacturing. during land tilling, 1 corresponding author: prisca tente (pmtente@yahoo.co.uk) agriculture dust is generated (swanepoel, 2012). the mining industry generates dust from crushing, extraction, drilling and stone breaking. gholami et al. (2012) found high dust concentrations in the iron-stone mine in iran. the construction industry generates dust from breaking, cutting and crushing concrete (normohammadi et al., 2016). dust is also generated in the dental laboratory from sanding and sandblasting through porcelain and polishing (kim et al., 2002). as part of construction dust, silica dust is the most hazardous part of dust (li et al., 2019). it is contained in commonly used construction materials such as concrete and sand. silica dust is produced when materials that contain university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 44 silica are being worked on, like cutting, breaking and grinding (flanagan et al., 2003). however, silica dust has not been well characterised because of the frequent turnover of personnel and continually changing workplaces, tasks and environmental conditions (flanagan et al., 2003). several studies, such as kirkeskov et al. (2016), normohammadi et al. (2016) and li et al. (2019), have shown that construction dust contains high silica concentrations that pose health risks of occupational diseases such as renal disease, tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and silicosis (hse, 2012). the evidence of the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and skin diseases in zambia's construction industry indicates that workers are exposed to dust and chemical irritants that are harmful to them (nsunge, 2019; tente, 2016). inhaling silica dust above permissible exposure limits (pels) causes symptoms of respirable diseases. when exposure is high, or for a long time, it leads to silicosis, which has no known cure. on the other hand, exposure to chemical irritants causes skin disease symptoms common in construction in zambia (tente, 2016). symptoms of respirable and skin diseases are caused by exposure to silica dust and chemical irritants that affect workers' health. moreover, they may lead to death and cost projects regarding lost man-hours, hospital bills and compensations. reduction in exposure levels to silica dust and chemical irritants reduces symptoms of respirable and skin diseases. this, in turn, safeguards workers' health and improves production on construction projects (tente and mwanaumo, 2022). moreover, in line with sustainable development goal number three of achieving good health and well-being by 2023, it is a requirement that the number of deaths and illnesses caused by hazardous chemicals and air pollution and contamination are reduced. the high global estimated number of workers exposed to silica dust in the construction industry is a serious concern (bello et al., 2019; iom, 2011; motshelanoka, 2005). as zambia sets to become a middleincome country by 2030, there has been an increase in construction projects and a likelihood of an increase in the generation of dust and possible contact with silica dust and chemical irritants. this is evidenced in the studies by nsunge (2019) and tente (2016), who reported 43% and 22% prevalence of symptoms of respiratory diseases, respectively. the prevalence of respiratory diseases was attributed to exposure to dust. the symptoms of respiratory and skin diseases affect workers' health and negatively impact projects through lost man-hours, low productivity, hospital bills and compensations. therefore, the study examines the sources of silica dust and controls used in a road and building project in zambia. the findings and recommendations would provide knowledge on the dust prevalent on projects towards enhancing good safety culture among construction stakeholders in the construction industry in zambia. 2. literature review 2.1 respirable crystalline silica dust exposures in construction silica is found in construction materials such as sand, stone, brick, mortar and concrete (occupation safety and health administration-osha, 2017). therefore, when working with these materials, silica dust is produced. since silica dust is produced from construction staple materials, it is one of the important hazards in the industry (flanagan et al., 2003; wiebert et al., 2012; kirkeskov et al., 2016). some of the common construction activities that produce silica dust are surface grinding and finishing, tuck-point grinding (mortar removal), rock and surfacing grinding, sanding of drywalls, tile cutting, brick and concrete block cutting and abrasive blasting (hse, 2012). several studies have found that skilled construction workers such as demolition workers (lumens & spee, 2001; normahammadi et al., 2016; kirkeskov et al., 2016), abrasive blasters, surface and tuck-point grinders, jackhammers, rock drills, masons and labourers (flanagan et al.,2003); and painters (rappaport et al., 2003) experience silica dust concentrations higher than the pels. in addition, several countries have recorded high silica exposures that pose a high risk of respiratory diseases to construction workers. in switzerland, 80% of the measurements of exposure levels for demolition and reconstruction were above the pel (moser, 1992), finland recorded high silica exposure levels during the dry season (riala, 1988), and the netherlands recorded high silica exposure concentrations (lumens and spee, 2001). 2.2 respirable crystalline silica dust controls in construction there are five controls in the hierarchy of controls for respirable crystalline silica dust, namely, elimination, substitution, engineering control (use of local ventilation exhaust (lev), administration control (provision of training/personal hygiene) and the use of personal protective equipment (ppe) (tente et al., 2022). the order of importance or most effective controls are from the bottom up to the top, as shown in figure 1. figure 1: hierarchy of controls (source: tente et al.2022) according to thorpe et al. (1999), the method of elimination is the most effective control, yet it is not recommended in construction as silica-content materials such as sand and cement are staples. the second in the hierarchy is the substitution method. one example of a substitution method is the replacement of the onsite mixing of concrete with ready-mix concrete (wu et al., 2016). engineering control involves the removal of the hazard at the source before it enters the air, such as wet suppression (thorpe et al., 1999; lumens and spee, 2001; flanagan et al., 2003) and the use of lev (hasan et al., 2012). an lev system consists of a hood or enclosure to capture a contaminant, an air pollution control device to clean the air, and an air mover to provide airflow through the system (raynor and peters, 2016). another exposure control is administrative control, which involves training the workers on the risks of silica dust and chemical irritant hazards to reduce exposures (niosh, 2009; mwanaumo et al., 2014). also, training is recommended in terms of effectively using the tools to tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 45 reduce exposure to silica dust (hse, 2012). one example of administrative control is ensuring that workers rotate the activity in terms of shifts to keep exposure under pel (tente and mwanaumo, 2022). for silica dust exposure reduction, properly selecting the respirable personal equipment (rpe) and proper storage is key (radnoff and kutz, 2013). the last in the controls that are used is the use of adequate ppe. according to flanagan et al. (2003), using ppe alone is inadequate in controlling the exposures experienced in construction. despite this fact, to reduce levels of exposure, it is recommended that management provide full proper ppe (tente and mwanaumo, 2022). this would work with other methods, especially since ppe is the most commonly used control in construction (reed et al., 1987). nevertheless, in kirkeskov et al. (2016), few workers used personal respiratory protection during the dustiest work. according to authors (kirkeskov et al. 2016, mwanaumo et al. 2018; mambwe et al. 2021), exposure levels to silica dust differ from profession to profession and task to task despite working in the same environment. the fact that most studies that have been done concerning respirable crystalline silica exposure controls have been on the on-tools controls such as grinders, cut-off saws, and hand-held saws is evidence that engineering control is a practical method (tente et al., 2022). however, in tente et al. (2022), where results from eight studies by different researchers were analysed, no single control method adequately reduced silica dust below the pels, as shown in table 1. the results showed that the water control method had a higher silica dust reduction percentage compared to lev and the use of silica substitute materials. carlo et al. (2010) had few concerns with water regarding slip hazards and decolouring when cutting tiles with the saw during roofing installation. according to hse (2012), there was no statistically significant effect on control efficiency for factors such as water volume, flow rate and blade size when the water control method was used. the other control which reduced exposure to 99% was lev ontool. the advantage of lev is that it reduces exposure to nearby workers and minimises clean-up due to dust exposure (tente et al., 2022). the problem with lev on-tool is that it adds more weight to the equipment or tool. the use of silica substitute materials is reduced by 60% of exposure. this entails that silica substitute materials should be incorporated into construction to help reduce exposure levels. the combination of lev and water significantly reduced, below the pel of 0.075mg/m3. this clearly showed that combining all controls, namely, lev, water, silica substitute materials, training and the proper use of quality rpe, would reduce exposure to safeguard the workers' health which is paramount (tente et al., 2022). silica content materials in their wet state produce chemicals that are irritable to the skin, and in their dry state produce silica dust during grinding, cutting, sanding and other construction activities (tente et al., 2022; tente and mwanaumo, 2022). according to tente et al. (2022) 's findings, the most common dust control method was a combination of water and dust masks (52%), followed by dust masks only (24%). the control by use of water only was 10%, and no control was five per cent. the results show that the use of ppe was common. table 1: control measures and their silica dust reduction percentage item control method no control (mg/m3) with control (mg/m3) % reduction pel (mg/m3) source 1 lev 1.0 0.3 70 0.075 lumens and spee (2001) 2 pressure tank 21.2 1.3 95 0.04 thorpe et al. (1999) mains water 14.4 0.6 93 lev 8 0.7 91 3 lev and water 14.3 below 0.075 99 0.075 nij, et al. (2003) 4 lev 4.5 0.14 92 0.075 croteau et al. (2004) 5 lev on-tool & box fan 4.87 1.42 71 0.075 flanaga et al. (2003) 6 lev on-tool 25.4 0.95 99 0.025 akbar-khanzadeh, et al. (2007) wet grinding 61.7 0.11 98 7 lev 1.4 0.13 91 0.075 carlo, et al. (2010) water suppression 3 0.03 99 0.075 8 silica substitute 0.074 0.049 66 0.025 radnoff and kutz (2013) tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 46 however, in the study by mashqoor et al. (2017), 78% of the workers had no ppe. similarly, in bedoya-marrugo et al. (2017), 70% of respondents did not use ppe. moreover, shah and tiwari (2010) found that 50% of the workers did not use ppe. this meant that the workers without ppe experienced high exposure to chemical irritants and were likely to develop symptoms of skin diseases (tente and mwanaumo, 2022). this would have been the reason for the construction industry's high rate of skin diseases. periods of exposure to chemical irritants have also been associated with symptoms of skin diseases. shah and tiwari (2010) found an association between increased exposure duration (8-10 hours) and skin conditions. the skin symptoms were work-related and were aggravated by work. the study by bedoya-marrugo et al. (2017) found that the period of exposure to cement was directly proportional to the likelihood of developing dermatitis. a prolonged duration of exposure was associated with more morbid skin conditions (moshqoor et al., 2017). 3. methods the data was collected between may and november 2021 in a cross-sectional study. one road and one building project were used as two case studies. the two case studies were selected to get experience on roads and building projects to represent the construction industry accurately. bricklayers, carpenters, butchers, tilers, demolition workers, painters, road construction workers and handymen were purposively sampled. the estimated study population for building and road project sites was 1,012 workers. the sample size was established at 10% of the estimated population. moreover, the sample size was limited to 100 because the number of workers was reduced due to covid-19 by the ministry of health. therefore, the total sample size was 100 workers, 50 for each case study. the qualitative data was collected using observation schedules and a camera. what was observed in the schedule were the dust levels in terms of plumes of dust, sources of dust, dusty environment, the methods of controls according to the hierarchy of controls and the types of ppe provided. in this study, the appearance of a plume of dust (a large quantity of dust that rises into the air in a column) was considered high exposure, and the absence of a plume was considered low exposure to dust. overt and direct observations were used. overt observation is when participants know they are being observed (lugosi, 2006). the workers were consulted, and observations were only done after workers consented to take part in the study. the overt observation ensured ethical issues were adhered to according to the ethical clearance approval by the natural and applied sciences research ethics committee (nasrec). moreover, observations revealed interactions between workers and management regarding control measures in silica dust and chemical irritants exposure reduction. observations were accompanied by the photographs, which were taken using tecno canon 17 phone camera (6.6 "-720x1600 pixels). according to pain (2012), photographs are used in data collection to get appropriate tacit data for providing cues for understanding the topic. in this research, photographs were used to complement what was being observed. the plume of dust was captured to enhance the description of dust exposure levels. in this case, text from the observations and photographs enhanced the meaning of the data (johnson, 2004). it was deduced from the literature review that some skills or activities experienced high exposures to silica dust; therefore, using observation, silica dust was observed in the form of dust. photographs were taken with the consent of the participants. in addition, the researcher gave the participants assurance that faces would be avoided and only capture the activity or interest of observation according to nasrec ethical approval. data was collected during the eight hours full-day shift. the data were qualitatively analysed using the constant comparative method. this method of data analysis involves constantly comparing data points to other data points to form categories and concepts (anderson and jack, 2015). 4. results and discussion the findings revealed that the workers were exposed to dust as a plume of dust was observed. the exposure depended on the activities being performed and if there were any controls used. the findings of the dust exposures and controls observed are presented in table 2. table 2: summary of the observed key concerns key concerns description of observed dust exposure levels and sources • offloading of gravel • loading of spoil • dry concrete grinding • quarry loading for batching • dry sweeping during housekeeping • cement bag opening during manual mixing • demolition works dust controls • water spray to suppress dust (at intervals and whenever water was available) • water on-tool/machine • dust nets on road works • few work-suits (building project) • few dust masks • covid-19 masks (mandatory) • few proper gloves • no gloves • torn gloves (not suited for the skill so easily torn) • exchangeable gumboots depending on activity all the activities observed had high exposure levels as the plume of dust was seen as shown in figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. dust exposures were observed during the damping of gravel during road constructions, dry concrete grinding, quarry loading for batching, dry sweeping during housekeeping, and cement bag opening during manual concrete or mortar mixing and demolition works. tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 47 figure 2 shows a tipper truck offloading gravel during the road construction works. a plume of dust was seen escaping in the open air. road workers, passers-by pedestrians, cyclists and traffic were exposed to the dust, thereby posing a health risk to the exposed. there was no dust control observed during these activities. therefore, the road workers, passers-by pedestrians, cyclists and traffic were exposed to the same amount of dust emanating from offloading the gravel. the excavator was loading a tipper truck with spoil to transport it to the damping site. a plume of dust was seen from loading the spoil during the road construction in figure 3. road workers and road users were exposed to the dust in the process, posing a health hazard. the dust exposure in figure 3 extended to the nearby truck business premises. figure 2: picture showing dust exposure during offloading of gravel figure 3: picture depicting dust exposure during loading of spoil this is similar to normohammadi et al. (2016), who found that cutting and breaking concrete produce hazardous dust for workers. the worker performed dry grinding during concrete drain shaping, and the plume of dust was seen during the activity in figure 4. the worker was seen without the recommended ppe, such as a dust mask, gloves, work suits, safety boots and a hard hat. this is similar to kirkeskov et al. (2016) 's finding that few workers wear rpe even when performing activities that produce high dust levels in the construction industry. figure 4: picture showing dust exposure during dry concrete grinding in figure 5, the workers were loading quarry dust for batching. the dust was seen as a result of loading. the loading worker was seen without a dust mask, and the other was wearing a covid-19 facemask. the workers were likely to be exposed to dust which is harmful to their health. dry sweeping was another activity seen as a source of construction dust, as shown in figure 6. dust came from the concrete and mortar remains as they were swept during housekeeping. other controls like water should be used with the recommended ppe to reduce dust exposure, especially dust masks. the worker was seen in the ppe but had a facemask instead of the recommended dust mask. the covid-19 face mask was inadequate in reducing exposure to dust as it was specifically made for covid-19 prevention. figure 5: picture showing workers loading quarry dust for batching tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 48 figure 6: picture showing dust exposure during dry sweeping there was cement dust escaping into the open air as the worker in figure 7 opened a bag of cement while manually mixing plaster and mortar at a building site. the worker was noticed wearing a black cloth face mask which was recommended for covid-19 prevention. face masks are not recommended for silica dust reduction as their particles are so tiny that they penetrate surgical and cloth face masks designed for covid-19 prevention. figure 7: picture showing cement dust exposure during dry mixing workers in figure 8 were performing demolition works. one worker broke the wall using a hammer, and the other manually loaded the rubble. dust was produced from both activities, especially when manually loading the rubble. the workers were wearing covid-19 recommended face masks. figure 8: picture showing dust exposure during demolition and loading of rubble the results in figure 4 are similar to the findings of flanagan et al., 2003 and hse (2012), who found that grinding concrete produces high exposure to silica dust. also, the findings on demolition workers being exposed to silica dust are similar to lumens and spee (2001), normahammadi et al. (2016) and kirkeskov et al. (2016) 's findings. the difference was that in this research, silica dust exposure was qualitatively considered in terms of observed dust, and it was established from the literature that similar activities in construction recorded high levels of silica dust, which was above the permissible limits. in lumens and spee (2001), normahammadi et al. (2016) and kirkeskov et al. (2016), silica dust concentrations were quantitatively measured using air sampling methods. the controls that were observed in the two case studies were spraying of water to suppress dust, water ontool/machine, dust nets on road works, few dust masks, mandatory covid-19 face masks, few work suits, few gloves, torn gloves and changeable gumboots depending on the activities being performed. the findings on the controls are shown in figures 9, 10, 11 and 12. the combination of water and face masks/dust masks was similar to the findings by tente et al. (2022). the common use of facemasks on both road and building projects was mandatory for covid-19 prevention during the pandemic by the ministry of health. during data collection, covid-19 was prevalent, and as a preventive measure, all workers were mandated to wear face masks during covid-19. the face masks were surgical masks and cloth face masks, as evidenced in figures 4, 5 and 7. nevertheless, despite the facemasks being worn constantly, they did not reduce silica dust exposure adequately. this is because face masks were designed to reduce exposure to covid-19 and not silica dust rpe. other masks recommended for silica dust exposure reduction, such as disposable dust masks, industrial dust masks and n95, were rarely used on sites. this can be seen in figure 11, where only a worker operating the concrete mixer was spotted wearing the recommended dust mask. the worker in figure 9 removed some wetted gravel back on the road base during base processing. the worker sprayed water to suppress dust, thereby reducing dust exposure for himself and the traffic, as shown in figure 9. tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 49 figure 9: picture showing dust control using water for base processing despite the water suppression control, the worker did not wear the recommended full ppe to reduce dust and chemical exposure. workers in figure 10 were cutting asphalt roads using concrete cutters. the concrete cutter had a water tank mounted on its back. as the concrete cutter was cutting asphalt, water was dripping on the cutting blade, suppressing the dust which was being produced. therefore, less dust escaped into the open air during the cutting activity. this meant that water control was able to reduce dust, similar to the findings of carlo et al. (2010), who found that water control was able to reduce dust control by up to 99%. figure 10: picture showing the use of a cutter with water on the road project the lesser the dust emanating from the source, the lesser the dust exposure and the lesser the likelihood of workers developing respiratory diseases. the worker in figure 11 was seen in a surgical face mask, yet he was working on a dusty activity. the worker was loading quarry dust in a wheelbarrow for batching. the loading activity produced dust, as seen in figure 11. figure 11: picture showing a worker wearing a face mask while working the other worker in figure 12 was seen wearing a recommended dust mask. he was seen opening the bag of cement to load in the concrete mixer to make concrete. since the dust mask was one of recommended rpe, it meant that it could protect the work from inhaling all the dust around the breathing zone. what was not known was whether the dust mask was good quality or well-fitted, as advised by flanagan et al., (2003); ahmed and abdullah, (2012). the effectiveness of the dust mask in terms of quality could not be done by observation method as some practice tests are carried out to establish the quality. figure 12: picture showing a worker wearing a dust mask while working the findings on the use of the facemasks are contrary to some researchers who advised from their findings that to reduce exposure to silica dust, a suitable and well-fitted rpe is required (flanagan et al., 2003; ahmed and abdullah, 2012). however, from the literature review, it can be concluded that despite using rpe as a control to reduce exposure to silica dust, it does not reduce silica exposure levels to below pel (tente et al., 2022). this is why it is recommended that the use of rpe and ppe should be the last in the hierarchy of controls (flanagan et al., 2003). tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 50 despite the recommendation that rpe and ppe should be used in combination with other control methods, findings of this study revealed that in some instances, no or inadequate ppe was being used, as shown in figures 13 and 14. the worker in figure 13 had no ppe and was fully exposed from head to toe to silica dust and chemical irritants. the worker is likely to develop skin disease symptoms, as shown in figure 13. the worker in figure 14 has no gloves or dust masks, exposing him to silica dust and chemical irritants. the worker performs plastering without gloves, exposing his hands to wet cement, which burns the skin. figure 13: picture showing a worker without any ppe figure 14: picture showing a worker without gloves and a dust mask despite water being a commonly used control type, it had its challenges. according to the workers, the use of water as dust control in the building project had its challenges of messing the place and making an activity difficult to perform, similar to findings of carlo et al. (2010). the challenge of using water made workers avoid it to ease their work activity. on the road project, the challenge of using water for dust control or suppression was that workers had to keep spraying every hour or more depending on the weather condition. this was a serious challenge as spraying water was not done as often because they preferred to use water for road works such as base processing rather than dust control. in addition, water was fetched far from the road sites and transported in the heavy traffic of lusaka city, making water erratic on sites. this led to inadequate dust controls on the road sites on the road project. 5. conclusion the study assessed the dust levels, sources and controls for silica dust in the construction industry in zambia. this was done using overt observation, an observation schedule, and a camera to capture the photographs. the observations showed that the dust levels were high as all the activities which were observed produced a plume of dust. the sources of dust, in terms of activities, on the road project, were offloading, loading of spoil and dry concrete grinding. the dust sources on the building project were; the loading of quarry dust for batching, dry sweeping, and opening of cement during dry mixing for concrete. the common controls were water and dust or face masks. another control which was rarely used was dust nets that were also used as holding for the two sites. however, from the dust plume observed, the methods of control and the improper ppe suggest that the controls were inadequate. this may mean that the sampled skilled workers and their labourers were likely to be exposed to high levels of silica dust and chemical irritants in the construction industry in zambia. findings indicate that workers are at risk of health problems brought about by inhaling dust. 6. recommendations and limitations findings showed that only engineering control and ppe were utilised from the hierarchy of controls. a combination of controls should be implemented for effective silica dust reduction and reduced risk of ill health. therefore, there is a need for improved ways that incorporate all controls in the hierarchy of controls and the participation of all construction stakeholders in reducing silica dust to safeguard workers' health and the possible effects on the projects. the study serves as an awareness to construction stakeholders of the health concern of high dust exposure levels and inadequate controls. therefore, government and construction stakeholders must ensure that the controls are improved to mitigate dust and protect the workers. the study was limited to observations. there is a need to measure the actual dust concentrations with and without controls using dust sampling to establish to what extent the workers are exposed to dust. this would help in policy formulation regarding exposure limits and adequate ways of dust control. tente et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 43-52 51 references ahmed, h.o. and abdullah, a.a. 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(2016). mitigating construction dust pollution: state of the art and the way forward. journal of cleaner production. 112, 1658–1666. jcbm (2021) 5(1).38-46. exploring the effects of positive organizational behaviour (pob) models on occupational eustress amongst construction employees a. c. ogwueleka1 and d.i. ikediashi2 1 department of quantity surveying, university of uyo, nigeria 2 department of building, university of uyo, nigeria received 11 january 2021; received in revised form 27 feburary 2021, 27 july 2021 and 30 august 2021; accepted 5 september 2021. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1.1041 abstract the general perspective of organizational behaviour (ob) has been characterized more by negativity than positively. the introduction of a positive approach into ob is known as positive organizational behaviour (pob), which focuses on employees' positive emotions and strengths to enable them to thrive and reinforce the organization. the study assesses the effects of pob constructs on eustress amongst construction employees in nigeria. data were collected from 326 respondents practising in the construction firms using a quantitative survey and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential surveys, including structural equation modelling (sem). the study identified five constructs of pob models and five parameters of eustress that have a significant influence on eustress. the study focuses on identifying the areas that can propel positive mental health among construction employees to improve their performances and increase work productivity. therefore, it recommends that construction stakeholders should consider adopting company policies that can drive their implementations. keywords: construction employees, distress, occupational eustress, positive organizational behaviourdelivery. 1. introduction today's psychology movement has dramatically shifted from researching what is wrong with people and how to fix it to make peoples’ lives more productive and fulfilling by nurturing their talents (luthans, 2002). this prompted the earlier adoption of positive approach into psychology as positive psychology by well-known research-oriented psychologists such as seligman and csiksentmihalyi (2000), diener (2000), peterson (2000), and synder (2000)]. positive psychology (pp) is focused on maximizing peoples' strengths. seligman (2002) defines pp as the study of positive emotions and the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. there exists a high demand for the improved work performance of which employees' well-being plays a role. this provides the need to formulate frameworks and models to manage employees' capabilities toward improved work performance. the application of 1 corresponding author. email address: amakaogwueleka@gmail.com ©2021the author(s).published by uct library. this isan open access article under thecc by 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ positively-oriented models to foster human strengths is targeted towards reinforcing the organization. luthans (2002) argues that previously the general perspective in organizational behaviour (ob) has been characterized more by negativity than by positivity, for example, more focus on stress and burnout than eustress, and dysfunctions; hurdles and inadequacies of managers rather than their puissance and capabilities for development and improving performance. ob studies the “behaviour, attitudes, and performance of people in organizations” (dailey, 2016). this field of study emphasizes how employees’ work contributes to or lowers an organization's overall project success and work productivity (dailey, 2016). pp is integrated into the study of organizational behaviour to promote the employees’ well-being and organizations towards improved performance; this is known as positive organizational behaviour (pob) (seligman & csikszentmihalyi, 2000). mchugh (2001) emphasizes that the application of pob university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1. mailto:amakaogwueleka@gmail.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ a. c. ogwueleka and d.i. ikediashi /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).38-46 39 increases the employees’ commitment at work and thereby decreases the risk of losing talented ones. likewise, stress management has been studied extensively, but the majority of research works focus on negativity. previous studies on stress management have identified strategies of coping with stress (chinyio et al., 2018); factors affecting stress and stressors (ng et al., 2005; leung et al., 2012); and managing occupational stress amongst construction professionals (ciob, 2006; leung et al., 2010). several written works show that work stress is rooted in psychology(ng et al., 2005; leung et al., 2010). this paper will not consider recapturing them but rather focus on assessing the effects of psychology capabilities adopted for this study as pob models on positive stress at the workplace. stress is an inevitable element of human life, but the changing trends in stress management research have advocated a focus on positivity. a positive state of stress is known as eustress, while the negative aspect denotes distress (matejek, 2019). this study focuses on the positive aspect of stress, which is eustress. it is important to note that the focus on positivity is based on the recent shift in stress management. the question is, why do we dwell on negativity while positivity can promote better work balance and well-being of employees? jones (2016) defines eustress as a “positive reaction to stress that generates within us a desire to achieve and overcome a challenge” (jones, 2016). this produces positive feelings amongst workers, resulting in increased performance and a general sense of well-being and contentment. the ability to manage the stress associated with work conditions is influenced by cognitive and behavioural efforts that an individual exerts on it (chinyio et al., 2018). when stressful conditions at work are not adequately managed, it influences the interpersonal relationships amongst project team members and organizational relationships, which will affect work performance (leung et al., 2003). the study aims at assessing the effects of pob models on occupational eustress amongst construction employees in nigeria. the adoption of pob models is still in its infancy, although studies have advocated that employees' positive responses will contribute to a higher level of eustress (tavakoli, 2010). 2. literature review 2.1 the pob models the recent positive emphasis in organizational behaviour focuses on building human strength by promoting their state-like characteristics within an organization. this allows the psychological resource capabilities to be measurable and open to evolution, resulting in improved performance. luthans (2002) proposed five psychological constructs for pob models, which are self-efficacy (confidence), hope, optimism, subjective well-being (happiness), and emotional intelligence. whereas four positive constructs known as psychological capital or psycap were recommended by luthans and youssef (2007) for assessing the positive psychological state in human capital, these are hope, resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy. these positive psychological constructs are explained as follows: 2.1.1 self-efficacy bandura (2012) defines self-efficacy as “peoples’ judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performance”. luthans (2002) also describes self-efficacy as confidence; this can further be explained as believing in one self's ability to control a person's attitudes towards the social environment. previous studies have shown that self-efficacy positively correlates with goal aspirations/attainment, job satisfaction, and performance (bandura, 2000; judges et al., 2001; harter et al., 2002). four sources of self-efficacy are identified as past performance, vicarious experience, verbal persuasions, and emotional clues (lunenberg, 2011). the study adopts the ten measures of self-efficacy identified by schwarzer and jerusalem (1995) for data collection. 2.1.2 hope this is defined as a positive motivational scale that can be acquired by applying both aspired will-power goals and mapping out routes to achieve targets (ogwueleka and ogbonna, 2018). this aspired will-power involves setting goals and developing the driving force while mapping out routes to achieve targets involves providing pathways for achieving such goals and overcoming barriers. an assessment tool known as adult dispositional hope scale (adhs) was developed by synder et al. (1991), consisting of twelve questions to measure hope. the hypothetical question for this research was restructured from the measures. 2.1.3 resilience it is defined as “the developable capacity to rebound or bounce back from adversity, conflict, and failure or even positive events, progress and increased responsibility” (luthans, 2002). the construct promotes the competence of individuals to cope successfully with adversity or uncertainty in the work environment. there exists a positive correlation between psychological resilience and psychological well-being (rees et al., 2015). therefore, the workplace climate has an important role to play in fostering resilience among employees. four factors influencing resilience in the workplace were identified as an individual, individual jobs, teams, and organizations (australian government comcare, 2014). for this study, the four identified factors were structured into a hypothetical question to measure resilience in the workplace. 2.1.4 optimism mccann (2015) attributes optimism as positive thinking, which confers eagerness to succeed in all endeavours. this is a belief that the outcomes of events will be favourable; or in other words, this involves thinking and feeling optimistic about the future. that does not mean that stress is not inevitable, but the approach towards a stressor is usually in a productive manner. an individual with a mindset of optimism views the world more productively and displays a positive thinking lifestyle, with greater control perception. this study restructured the five shortcomings of optimism and their remedies as identified by smith (2015) into a research question for data collection. 40 a. c. ogwueleka and d.i. ikediashi /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).38-46 2.1.5 subjective well-being this refers to how people experience and evaluate their lives and specific domains and activities (national research council, 2013). it is a subset of positive psychology that captures the judgment of overall life satisfaction, including cognitive judgment and affective reactions. subjective well-being (swb) allows for the evaluation of a person's typical emotional experience along with life satisfaction. this provides a balance between one's behaviour/notions and the surrounding. the satisfaction with life scale was developed by one of the world's foremost swb researchers, professor ed diener, in 1985. the scale consists of 48 items, and this was later reduced to 5 items using factor analysis (diener et al., 1985). this scale is restructured into a research question for data collection. 2.1.6 emotional intelligence emotional intelligence (ei) is considered an important aspect of one’s life because it deals with the ability to read other people’s signals and react appropriately to them. zeidner et al. (2009) define ei as the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate one's own emotions and also the emotions of others. over the years, research has linked ei to positive life outcomes and improved mental and physical health (martins et al., 2010). there exist several methods used to assess the different levels of ei, in which any of them may fall into either one of two types, namely: self-report tests or ability tests. this study focuses on construction personnel. therefore the self-report test is considered suitable for data collection. this allows for respondents to rate their behaviours unlike-ability tests that a third party administers. for this study, the five categories of ei were adopted for self-report tests: selfawareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills and a research question was formulated to assess them. 2.2 stress management: eustress versus distress work pressure can be considered either safe or threat, depending on an individual's coping abilities. an individual may have the coping abilities to perceive a medium level of work pressure, while the others may lack the coping abilities to manage expectations placed on them; this can lead to stress. over the years, there exists the notion that stress is unhealthy and can lead to anxiety and depression (li, cao & li, 2016). the negative perception of stress influences our physiological responses that lead to distress, while when positively perceived, it results in eustress. some researchers argue that stress is not always bad for individuals (pandey, 2005). some level of stress is required to inspire and energize people in organizations. notwithstanding, the individual’s subjective judgment influences his/her capability to cope with it. quick et al. (2010, citing lazarus & folkman's, 1984) on the study of cognitive appraisals of stressors, emphasize that challenges are considered eustress while threats are referred to as distress. they may co-occur, even as a result of the same stressor. simmons (2000) further illustrates stress using the holistic model of bathtub analogy. he argues that the two faucets (distress and eustress) are necessary to get the water level and temperature right. the new trend of stress management has advocated how to manage stress positively. some researchers have promoted a preventive approach that focuses on preventing individual and organizational distress and promoting health (haynes & love, 2004; pandey & gaur, 2005). therefore, it is important to note that healthy employees will eventually form productive teams that will result in healthy organizations. an organization with positive mental health provides a good work environment for its employees to maintain work-life balance and healthy well-being (pandey, 2005). in examining what constitutes healthy individuals, earlier researchers stipulate that it goes beyond the absence of disease and disorder (pathogenesis) to understanding the true potential of an individual in terms of health and well-being (salutogenesis) (antonovsky, 1987). pandey and gaur (2005) state that positive mental health represents a state of well-being, where an individual can overcome the normal stresses of life and be productive and fruitful in one’s endeavour and contribute to his/her community. as earlier stated, stress is inevitable; therefore, there is a need to create a work environment where workers will be willing to cope with it and remain productive. it is important to note that the experience of stress is conditioned by an individual’s perception of control of the stressor; this can determine the behavioural, physical, and psychological outcomes of such an individual. the advocacy for positive mental health is to enable an individual to have control over the stressor. control can be defined as “a person’s agency and capacity to make choices: (moore, 2016). the ability to make choices is rooted in whether the individual has developed a mindset equipped to deal with challenges rather than fear them. the subjective well-being (self-evaluation) is prone to cognitive reflection, which includes reflective appraisals of one's life and domains of life, such as work. the positive state of one's domain will generate eustress; this is targeted towards preventing and resolving distress. those who experience eustress regularly are bound to reap several positive health benefits. indicators of eustress are identified as positive affect, meaningfulness, manageability, engagement, and positive emotions (nelson & simmons, 2003; simmons & nelson, 2007; little, simmons, & nelson, 2007). 3. conceptual framework/ hypothesis development as previously mentioned, the integration of pob models to occupational eustress within the construction sector is still in its infancy (nangia & chaturvedi, 2015). stress causes both physical and psychological harm. therefore, managing stress at the workplace requires identifying the stressors at work, assessing and managing them. stress at work does not always lead to distress, where associated challenges are effectively dealt with. the cognitive behaviour of an individual influence their ability to cope with any challenge, where an individual perceives the stressor as a challenge that can be conquered, then it becomes positive stress. this positive perception of stress motivates employees to be more productive. stress is good, where the individual possesses the coping abilities to manage expectations and demands placed on him/her at the workplace (haynes & love, a. c. ogwueleka and d.i. ikediashi /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).38-46 41 2004). eustress is a key factor in motivating employees to actualize improved performance and enhance job satisfaction (nangia& chaturvedi, 2015). previous studies have examined the relationship between job stress and job performance (haynes & love, 2004; nangia & chaturvedi, 2015). their findings revealed that workplace stress significantly influences employee performance; this may incur psychological, physiological, and financial costs for both employees and the organization. likewise, pob characteristics are aimed at protecting individuals at the workplace by helping employees to be able to defend their existence overcome challenges. at the conceptual level, this study proposes a linear relationship between pob models and eustress. from the literature review, six psychological constructs for pob models were identified, and five indicators for eustress were also mentioned. the conceptual framework is illustrated in figure 1, while the research hypothesis is shown below. hypothesis one: positive organizational models have a significant influence on eustress. figure 1: conceptual framework 4.0 research methods 4.1 sample characteristics there are two types of sampling methods in a research survey: probability sampling and non-probability sampling. probability sampling allows for multi-source information of the entire population due to its random selection procedure (hamed, 2016). the study adopts a probability sampling method based on randomness and probability theory and a non-probability sampling technique for sample selection. the first is used to identify the sample frame, and the latter is adopted for selecting the respondents of sample size from the sample frame. the study covers the sample frame of three major states in nigeria, including port harcourt, lagos, and abuja. the target population comprises construction personnel who have executed commercial or public infrastructure projects or both. they include quantity surveyors, builders, engineers, architects, project managers, and foremen employed by registered construction companies (grade a to c) with the federal ministry of works and housing in the three selected states. the sample size of 375 was adopted for this study using monte carlo simulation. 4.2 data collection procedure the study adopts field survey methodology to uncover the effects of pob models on occupational eustress amongst construction employees. surveys through questionnaires were effective because of the relative ease of obtaining standard data appropriate for achieving the research aim (ogwueleka, 2011). a drafted copy of the questionnaire was initially developed, and a pilot study was conducted using a selected group of experts and senior practitioners within the construction industry. saunder et al. (2009) suggest that the use of content validity ensures that the questions are clear, relevant, and free of ambiguity. the questionnaire was revised based on the suggestions made during the pilot study. the face-toface contact method of questionnaire distribution was adopted to increase the response rate and improve reliability. a total number of six field assistants who were university students in the related disciplines during the survey period were mobilized for the field survey, and also one-day workshop training was organized for them. an introductory letter was first sent to the organizations to indicate their willingness to participate, followed by questionnaire administration to the selected respondents. a total number of 375 questionnaires were administered, the selected respondents were given three weeks to respond. an additional one week was given to those who could not respond within the period. after the survey period (september october 2019), 326 valid responses were returned and computed for data analysis representing a response rate of 87 per cent. 4.3 measures/variables the study measures two key variables, which are pob constructs and construction eustress. in order to achieve this, the questionnaire was divided into three parts. part 1 presents the background information about the respondents, while part 2 assesses the effects of pob constructs amongst respondents. these pob constructs are self-efficacy, hope, resilience, optimism, subjective well-being, and emotional intelligence. a five-point likert scale was adopted in measuring each construct with different parameters. table 1: compiled pob constructs and their measures variables/codes pob measures self-efficacy i am confident that i could deal effectively with unexpected events. hope i can attain any goals that i set for myself at my workplace. resilience my work environment can influence my ability to bounce back. optimism there is a way out in any challenge (problem-solving initiative) subjective wellbeing in most ways, my life is close to my ideas. emotional intelligence i usually anticipate, recognize, and meet clients' needs. for self-efficacy, hope, and emotional intelligence, a scale of 1=definitely false to 5=definitely true was considered, resilience and optimism were measured with a scale of 1=not influential to 5=highly influential, while subjective self-efficacy optimism hope subjective well-being emotional intelligence eustress resilience 42 a. c. ogwueleka and d.i. ikediashi /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).38-46 well-being was measured with a scale of 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. part 3 examines the influence of indicators of occupational eustress on construction employees. the indicators are positive effect, meaningfulness, manageability, engagement, and positive emotions. the respondents were asked to indicate their levels of agreement using a five-point likert scale of 1=never to 5=always. both variables and their measures are presented in tables 1 and 2. table 2: indicators of occupational eustress and their measures variables/codes eustress measures positive effect (z1) my efforts have had a positive impact on my organizational performance. meaningfulness (z2) do i find my work interesting? manageability (z3) i am always confident of my abilities and skills for my work. engagement (z4) does my work support the services of my employer? positive emotions (z5) i am always on the right track at my workplace. 4.4 structural equation modelling (sem) sem is a powerful statistical tool that combines both confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) and structural models for a simultaneous statistical test. it permits the measurement of several variables and inter-relationships simultaneously (hoe, 2008). sem is adopted in this study to test the proposed hypothesis. there are several indices of goodness-of-fit of the model. researchers in sem recommend that it is ideal to observe more than one of the indicators in evaluating models (bentler & wu, 2002; hoe, 2008). the commonly applied fit indices and their thresholds are x2 /df (ratio of 3 or less), rmsea (< 0.08 indicates acceptable fit), and cfi/nnfi (> 0.09 indicates good fit) (hoe, 2008; chen et al., 2008). the covariancebased sem calculation is executed using amos 21.0, a professional software program designed for sem analysis. 5. data analysis/interpretation initially, descriptive statistics were used to calculate the proportion of categorical variables, as shown in table 3. the collected data from part two were screened using spss missing value analysis expectation maximisation and amos mahalanobis distance (d) statistics to test for missing data. kline (2010) suggested that missing data should be treated to prevent negative influence on correlation and regression weights. the result reveals two missing data, and they were substituted by mean for each measured variable. nunnally and bernstein (2007) emphasize that it is important to determine cronbach's alpha coefficient when adopting the likert scale on a questionnaire. cronbach alpha analysis was used to test if all the measured variables contribute to their corresponding latent variables. to confirm whether all the items on the questionnaire contribute to good internal consistency, the items were cross-examined to check if any value is above the overall coefficient means. the overall cronbach alpha coefficient for the variables is 0.92, while none of the two groupings has a cronbach alpha value of less than 0.8. table 3: demographic characteristics of respondents characteristics sample size (n) % of respondents professional roles quantity surveyors 78 24 builders 48 15 engineers 74 23 architects 36 11 project manager 39 12 foreman 51 15 years of work experience 0-5 103 31 6-15 126 39 16-25 72 22 above 25 25 8 educational background technical college certificates 48 15 first degree certificates 228 70 second degree certificates 50 15 total 326 100 part two is analyzed using spss 19.0 (ibm corp, armonk, ny) and amos 21.0 software. the sem relationship mode path diagram was constructed, and the hypothetical model was analyzed to determine whether the model is a good fit. the first step involves using confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the validity of the scale, and the second step includes adopting maximum likelihood to estimate the causal relationship of the research model. the initial result indicates a lack of fit between the proposed model and data. the model was modified twice using modification indices provided by amos software. the initial and final model fit indices are shown in table 4; the chi-square value is 101.151 [p<0.000], while values of the other eight metrics were considered good after modification. table 4: result of the goodness of fit measures goodness of fit measures criteria for assessment hypothetical model revised model x2 / degree of freedom <5 3.101 2.975 rmsea < 0..08 0.870 0..078 comparative fit index (cfi) ≥ 0.90 0.781 0..910 rfi ≥ 0.90 0.696 0.890 parsimonious normed of fit index ≥ 0.50 0.743 0.641 pcfi ≥ 0.50 0.645 0.749 normed fit index (nfi) ≥ 0.90 0.931 0.922 ifi ≥ 0.90 0.897 0.934 a. c. ogwueleka and d.i. ikediashi /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).38-46 43 figure. 2 shows the final model and its correlation coefficient, and table 5 presents the parameter estimation of the final structural equation model. the one-tailed significance (p < 0.05) is used to determine the impacts of latent factors on one another. from the results, all the positive organizational behaviour models positively influence eustress except resilience, while eustress can be significantly predicted by positive affect, meaningfulness, manageability, engagement, and positive emotions. table 5: the parameter estimation of the final structural equation model route of path standardized coefficients unstandardized coefficients standard error p-value interpretation se →eustress 0.35 0.18 0.037 <0.001 supported h →eustress -0.20 -0.11 0.046 0.016 supported r → eustress 0.11 0.05 0.028 0.089 rejected p → eustress -0.17 -0.08 0.030 0.011 supported swb → eustress 0.15 0.08 0.034 0.022 supported ei → eustress 0.24 0.11 0.033 <0.001 supported eustress → z1 0.53 1.00 <0.001 supported eustress → z2 -0.25 -0.40 0.128 0.002 supported eustress → z3 0.42 0.79 0.184 <0.001 supported eustress → z4 0.54 0.99 0.195 <0.001 supported eustress → z5 052 0.95 0.205 <0.001 supported figure 2: the final model and its correlation coefficient 6. discussion the structural component of the model suggests that the identified five constructs of pob models are important parameters to measure eustress among construction employees. these parameters are self-efficacy, hope, optimism, subjective well-being, and emotional intelligence. as earlier stated, eustress is viewed as when someone displays a positive reaction over an incident, with a willingness to overcome such a challenge. the measure of “i am confident that i could deal effectively with unexpected events" is used to test the influence of self-efficacy on eustress. the result shows that there is a significant level of influence on eustress. this is in line with the study conducted by o'sullivan (2011), which emphasizes that when eustress and self-efficacy are examined together, they predict life satisfaction better. the findings reveal that employees are better satisfied at work when these parameters exist. the findings imply that one's judgment over their capability will influence their action. if an individual perceives a certain stimulus as controllable, the person will intensify their emotional action, which will generate a willingness to overcome. the measure of hope is "i can attain any goals that i set for myself at my workplace", this displays the belief that one has both the will and ways to accomplish a given goal has a significant, negative influence on eustress. a 44 a. c. ogwueleka and d.i. ikediashi /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).38-46 negative correlation shows this; this suggests that highly hopeful people perceive stress at a lower rate in line with the study conducted by sucan (2019) on the relationship between hope and perceived stress in teacher candidates; it reveals that programs related to the high level of hope to be implemented in schools may have positive effects on individuals' low stress in the examination. the parameter “there is a way out in any challenge (problem-solving initiative)" is used to measure optimism in pob models. optimism involves having a mindset to expect good things in future; this has a significant, negative influence on eustress. coversano et al. [2010] describe optimism as an inclination of hope. this may have influenced the findings that a positive mindset may lower workers' perceptions of stress. nes (2016) emphasizes that optimism is positively associated with coping strategies seeking to solve or manage stress and negatively associated with avoidance coping strategies. this implies that the respondents are more responsive toward avoidance coping strategies. the measure of subjective well-being to eustress reveals a significant, positive correlation; this implies that evaluation of one’s experience can positively influence one’s perception of control to the stressor. likewise, emotional intelligence has significant, positive influence on eustress. this is in line with the study conducted by almazrouei (2017), which reveals that emotional intelligence has positive association with employees’ eustress. the hypothesis of resilience having a significant influence on eustress is rejected; this may result from resilience focusing on reinstating someone's self after an event, while eustress involves the ability to control such a situation from occurring. likewise, the significant indicators of eustress are identified as a positive effect, meaningfulness, manageability, engagement, and positive emotions. the findings are supported by previous studies conducted by simmons and nelson (2007), nelson and simmons (2003), and little, simmons, and nelson (2007). 7. conclusions the study assesses the effects of pob models on occupational eustress amongst construction employees in nigeria. although the adoption of pob models is still in its infancy, some researchers have made meaningful contributions to the study of pob models. the study focuses on unveiling the constructs of pob models that can effectively influence a healthy lifestyle of managing stress (eustress). this will enable practitioners to focus on areas that can propel positive mental health of employees in order to improve their performances and increase productivity. from the literature scan, six pob constructs and five parameters of eustress were reviewed. the research findings revealed that self-efficacy, hope, optimism, subjective well-being, and emotional intelligence significantly influence eustress, although hope and optimism have negative correlations. this implies that those identified constructs can have a direct effect on eustress. therefore, organizations should establish company policies that effectively drive the three positive constructs, such as self-efficacy, subjective wellbeing, and emotional intelligence, to promote employees' positive mental health and well-being. the findings revealed five parameters of eustress that influence eustress as positive effect, meaningfulness, manageability, engagement, and positive emotions. although the study of pob models is still in its infancy, the findings expand pob theories. the results will guide project practitioners on areas to focus on to propel positive mental health amongst construction workers. references almazrouei, s.a.s. 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(2010). a positive approach to stress, resistance, and organizational change, procedia social and behavioral sciences, 5, 1794-1798. jcbm (2019) 3(2). 17-25 assessing quality management practice in nigerian construction industry u. abdullahi1, s. a. bustani2, a. hassan3, f. e. rotimi4 1& 3 department of building, modibbo adama university of technology, yola, nigeria, 2 department of quantity surveying, bayero university, nigeria, 4 building environment engineering department, auckland university of technology, auckland, new zealand received 14 march 2018; received in revised form 10 april 2018, 24 october 2018; accepted 30 october 2018. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.569 abstract several adverse reports on quality performance drive the need to assess quality management practice in the nigerian construction industry. incidences of building failures and in extreme cases, building collapse have been attributed to poor quality management among other factors. this paper assesses the quality management practices of nigerian construction firms intending to suggest appropriate courses of action for improving quality performance. data were collected through questionnaires administered to management staff in 20 construction firms in abuja, nigeria. findings from the study show that inspections and statistical quality control techniques are the most widely used quality management tools by construction firms in nigeria. however, the study found that the preparation of quality management plans (qmp) and quality auditing (a measure of quality assurance in building production), is not popular among nigerian construction firms. inadequate planning arrangements for quality, poor communication of quality requirements and lack of awareness of the benefits of quality management were identified as the most significant issues affecting quality management practice. therefore there is a low uptake of quality management practice principles within construction organizations in nigeria. hence, the need to create awareness for implementing quality management principles and concepts in its construction industry. keywords: assessment, construction industry, nigeria, quality management, quality standards 1. introduction a construction project is considered successful when it is completed on time, within budget, following specifications and to stakeholders' satisfaction. however, levels of project performance and project successes are low in the construction industry especially in developing countries such as nigeria where owners are generally dissatisfied (odediran, babalola & adebiyi, 2013; isa, jimoh & achuenu, 2013). one of the significant reasons for owners' dissatisfaction with building projects is their poor quality (abdulrahman, wang & wen, 2010; achi, onukwube & ajayi, 2007). every customer wants a quality product that meets its needs and worth the value of money it has invested unto the product (achi et al., 2007). therefore customers tend to be satisfied when quality product and service are delivered to them. project executors need to understand customer's need and 4 corresponding author. email address: frotimi@northtec.ac.nz requirement so that both their stated and implied quality levels can be met at all times. understanding customers need, and requirement could enable organisations to implement quality management practices and imbibe cultures which guarantee their customers' satisfaction. a strong commitment to quality and continuous companywide quality improvement will lead to significant improvement in quality performance and increased profit margins for any construction organisation. poor performance has adverse effects which transcend the industry to impact on national growth and sustainable development (windapo, 2006). structural failure seems to abound in developing countries (aini et al., 2005; taiwo & afolami, 2010) with worst cases resulting in building collapse with major causalities (windapo & rotimi, 2012). in a nutshell, quality management practices have a direct impact on the level of client satisfaction, quality enhancement, elimination of rework, and the enabling university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.569 mailto:frotimi@northtec.ac.nz 18 u. abdullahi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 17-25 synergy between different project parameters (smallwood & rossouw 2008; alwi, hampson & mohamed, 1999). building construction has become more complex, partly due to project owners' increasing demands and expectations. hoonakker (2006) reported that the construction industry's clients are demanding improved quality of service, faster buildings and innovations in technology. as a result, building products and systems have had to become more innovative to meet the owner's demands. however, newer and innovative procurement processes bring about challenges which building contractors need to manage effectively while delivering value to the project owner. also, with the advent of globalization, construction firms are striving to achieve internationally accepted quality levels to ensure their forefront position in emerging international markets. hence the need for a proper system that provides more quality when compared to other project objectives (abdul rahman et al.; 2010). burati, matthews and kalindi (1992) describe quality as the conformance to certain performance requirements. this entails meeting up the legal, aesthetic and functional requirements (arditi & gunaydin, 1997). a more universally accepted definition of quality, however, is the one provided by the international standard organization (iso8042, 1994). the iso defines quality as the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. from a construction perspective, quality could be defined as the totality of characteristics that a constructed facility and the process involved in its construction should have; and enables the facility to meet or exceed customers' needs, requirements and other performance criteria (love & irani, 2002). the preceding shows that determining and achieving customer requirements and expectations require proper quality management practice so that organisations can manage their current situation and future needs. particularly in the new global economy, quality management practice has become a central issue for performance improvement within construction industries. however going by abysmal practices in developing economies such as nigeria, it is pertinent that an assessment of quality management practices will benefit its construction industry. the current study investigation is, therefore, relevant as it provides a snapshot of current practices and identifies why and how quality management can be improved in the nigerian context. 2. literature review 2.1 the characteristics of the construction industry the construction industry has many characteristics that set it apart from other production environments, especially when compared with other sectors such as manufacturing (kamal, yusof & iranmanesh, 2016). the characteristics that make construction project a complex undertaking include: its fragmented nature, uniqueness, dynamism, non-standardisation, communication difficulties and the lack of customer focus of the construction industry (davis, 2007; egan, 1998). a typical project has a combination of persons and organizations including architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, planners, contractors, suppliers and other associated persons and organisations (such as the local council, building control agencies). these large numbers of project participants with differing quality objectives are expected to work together towards a common goal of project success. setiawan et al. (2012) note that the complexity of construction projects is as a result of the resources employed, the environment in which construction takes place, the level of scientific knowledge required, and the number and interaction of different workflows. this sometimes leads to difficulties in quality achievement throughout the supply chain. rowlinson and walker (1995) point out that the construction industry is also characterized by its non-standardization, where production processes are, to some extent, different from one another. hence, no universal standard or specification can be applied to the product. according to love, holt, shen and irani, (2002), both the internal and the external environment of construction projects are dynamic and relatively unstable. therefore such environments could hinder the smooth application of quality management practice. within the context of the current study, some of these characteristics impacts on quality management practice hence affect the ability to meet quality objectives desired by project owners, users and compliance authorities. very often, these characteristics make successful project outcomes ambiguous (chan & chan, 2004). 2.2 building collapse in nigeria one of the most significant current discussions among building owners, governments, approving authorities and professional bodies is the increasing incidence of building collapse in nigeria. dimuna (2010) and ede (2010) pointed out that the frequency of building failures and in extreme cases, building collapse in nigeria has become alarming and worrisome. several other studies have reported the continuous increase in building collapse in nigeria, with the most affected areas being urban areas because of their population growth rate. for example, windapo (2006) study on 61 cases of building collapse between 1974 and 2006 found that the highest incidents of building collapse occurred in lagos state. of the study cases, 40% were residential buildings (windapo, 2006). another analysis by dimuna (2010) shows that between 1975 and 1995, of 26 incidences of building collapse recorded, 14 between 1982 and 1996, and ten occurrences were recorded between 2004 and 2006 in lagos state alone. ede (2010) investigated 47 cases of building collapse in abuja, lagos and port harcourt between the periods of 2000 to 2010. the study also found lagos state to have the highest incidences of building collapse. these findings are unanimous about lagos state having the highest rates of building collapse. in summary, building collapse is significant in the construction industry in nigeria. these result in significant casualties and loss of lives that could be avoided. the implementation of efficient and effective quality management principles in construction organisation could bring an end to the needless loss of lives. there are suggestions for the construction industry to examine the competency and effectiveness of construction site workers as well as the standards of the materials and components used in u. abdullahi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 17-25 19 building construction (oke & abiola-falemu, 2009; taiwo & afolami, 2010). coupled with this is the establishment and implementation of sound quality management systems that would improve process performance across all construction activities (rotimi & tookey, 2012). 2.3 quality management systems in construction quality management systems have therefore become the focal points in businesses within the construction industry (smallwood & rossouw, 2008) quality management system according to the iso 8402, (1994), refers to all management functions that determines quality policy, objectives and responsibilities, and implements them by means such as quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and quality implementation within any quality system. the quality management system establishes a framework of reference points that ensure that every time a process is performed, the same information, methods, skills and controls are used and applied in a consistent manner (dale, 2003). essentially a quality management system standardises organisations’ processes, helps to minimise waste and reworks, and increase organisations’ profit margin (wilkinson & scofield, 2010). this management discipline is concerned with preventing problems from occurring by creating the attitudes and controls that could make prevention possible. according to nicholas and steyn (2008), a good quality management system is crucial in ensuring compliance with the quality criteria of projects. in other words, the quality management system is the criteria by which organisations’ quality performance are measured and for which quality management standards were developed. it is now used by many in the construction industry to ensure that the right things are done right the first time. abdulrahman (1996) suggests that minimizing errors/mistakes during the delivery of goods and services is possible with the introduction of formal quality management systems to plan, monitor and control production processes. toward this end, a series of international quality management standards have gained wide acceptance in the construction industry. the international organisation for standardisation (iso) for example, emerged during the last two decades as a system that can be applied to different types of organisations in order to obtain improvements in quality procedures and products. the iso’s initial sets of standards have been progressively developed to be relevant to construction due to its generic nature (chini and valdex 2003). the iso creates an assurance regime that provides confidence that an organisation has a quality process installed and that the organisation provides consistent products that will meet its customers’ needs and other regulatory requirements. love and li (2000) state that such implementation leads to third party certification that a product / service performs to requirements and provides evidence that an optimal level of quality is achieved. quality is about meeting standards and end user requirements. a quality management standard like the iso has a customer focus in all its requirements (rotimi, 2013). the probability of meeting customers’ needs is higher when such a standard, guides quality management performance. iso 9000 sets the minimum standard for quality management systems and many organisations have become iso 9000 compliant as a result of pressure from their customers (kumaraswamy & dissanayaka, 2000); although these clients tend to be public sector based that build one-off projects. in nigeria, the standards organization of nigeria (son) has formally adopted the iso 9000 for quality management in the country (achi et al., 2007). although there is anecdotal evidence,that suggest that its implementation is not clearly evident in the nigerian construction industry. the current study assesses quality management practice and attempts to identify the factors that may be preventing its implementation in the nigerian construction industry. the authors reflect that to achieve a quality assured construction performance, construction organisations need to be consistent in their pursuit of quality. however consistency can only be achieved through a documented quality management system, which effectively incorporates quality control, assurance and quality improvement. 2.4 quality management process according to smallwood and rossouw (2008), the quality management process commences with the production of a quality management plan which needs to be submitted along with tender documents during the initial stages of a construction project. there are three major processes involved in the management of quality in construction projects (nicholas & steyn, 2008; pmi, 1996). these are quality planning, quality assurance and quality control. each of these processes is briefly described in the following sub-headings. 2.4.1 quality planning (qp) qp is essentially a process that guides future quality activities. it sets the requirements and standards to be met as well as the actions necessary to meet those requirements and standards. the quality of a project is assessed by conformity to a quality plan designed to meet customer needs. according to nicholas and steyn (2008), quality planning provides the confidence that all steps necessary to ensure quality have been thought through. it involves identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and determining how to satisfy them (pmi, 1996). the quality plan specifies the requirements to be met in each project phase, getting approvals before continuing to the next phase. for example, it specifies at what stage formal design reviews could be held, how quality assurance would be managed for work done by subcontractors, as well as when and how deliverables will be inspected (nicholas & steyn, 2008). the quality plan could also indicate the quality techniques that would be used and when. checklists are usually incorporated as part of the quality planning process to verify that a set of required steps have been performed (pmi, 1996). organisations in more developed economies have a standardized checklist for ensuring consistency in activities performed frequently. 2.4.2 quality control (qc) quality control (qc) describes an ongoing process of monitoring and appraising work, and taking corrective action so that quality outcomes that are planned for could be achieved (nicholas & steyn, 2008). qc is essentially the activities and techniques employed to achieve and 20 u. abdullahi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 17-25 maintain the quality of a product, process, or service by monitoring activities, finding and eliminating causes of quality problems so that the requirements of the customer are continually met. qc is thus, primarily concerned with defect detection. the main qc techniques are related to inspection and statistical quality control (statistical sampling). the results of these processes are used in taking corrective actions and to inform the quality assurance (qa) process, so steps can be taken to prevent similar errors and defects (kemp, 2006). other qc techniques are control charts and flowcharts. inspections involve checking that what is produced is what was required (harris & mccaffer, 2002). the inspection takes two forms in construction works: that which is quantifiable for example lines, levels, verticality and dimensions; and that which is open to inspectors' interpretation such as fitness, tolerance, cleanliness and visual checks (harris and mccaffer, 2002). quality checks for construction performance are undertaken by work supervisors to ensure they comply with specifications. inspections do not of themselves prevent or correct mistakes unless appropriate corrective measures are taken subsequently. on the other hand, statistical sampling involves choosing a part of a population of interest and subjecting them to checks, tests or inspections (pmi, 1996). the result of tests on a small sample helps to establish the acceptability of an entire lot or batch of materials or work products (hendrickson & au, 2008). each lot tested, determines whether they satisfy a minimum acceptable quality level (aql). testing the cube strength of concrete is a typical example of statistical sampling in construction. appropriate sampling can often reduce the cost of quality control (pmi, 1996). 2.4.3 quality assurance (qa) quality assurance is a more modern approach to quality achievement in production. it is a shift from the old inspection and quality control systems where a lasting and continuous improvement in quality is achieved by directing organizational efforts towards planning and preventing problems occurring at the source (that is a shift from detection towards the prevention of nonconformance). thus quality assurance (qa) seeks to eliminate errors and mistakes that will give rise to wastes and defects and subsequently avoid reworks through replacement and making good the defects. qa is broadly the prevention of quality problems through planned and systematic activities. these include the establishment of sound quality management systems, the assessment of its adequacy, the audit of the operation of the system and the review of the system itself (harris & mccaffer, 2002). the pmi (1996) describes qa as all the planned and systematic activities implemented within a quality system to provide confidence that projects will satisfy relevant quality standards. ‘fitness for purpose' and ‘right first time' are the basic principles of qa to ensure that specifications are consistently met (harris &d mccaffer, 2002). qa concentrates on production or construction management methods and procedural approaches to ensure that quality is built into the production system. qa may be provided to the project management team or management of performing organisation as internal quality assurance; or provided to customers and other parties not actively involved in project execution as external qa (pmi, 1996). quality planning tools and quality audits are the basic techniques used for providing qa. quality audit is simply a structured review of other quality management activities (pmi, 1996). a quality audit examines the elements of a quality system to evaluate how well these elements comply with quality system requirements. the elements of a quality system identified by harris and mccaffer (2002) include responsibilities, authorities, relationships, functions, procedures, processes and resources. the main objective of any quality audit is to identify lessons learnt that could improve the performance of the project or other projects within an organisation (pmi, 1996). it helps to establish how well a system is working (nicholas & steyn, 2008). 2.5 factors affecting the application of quality management practice quality management practices have fallen short of expectations in the construction industry. love and li (2000) affirm that the lack of attention to quality assurances within the construction industry has resulted in quality failures becoming endemic features of the industry. poor quality management is profound in developing countries. for example, joubert, cruywagen and basson(2005) found that a disregard of quality management implementation exists within the south african construction industry. in nigeria, poor quality management within its construction industry has led to many years of poor customer satisfaction and service delivery (achi et al., 2007). some of the factors affecting the practice of quality management highlighted by said et al. (2009) include lack of commitments to quality, inadequate support from management, poor attention to quality issues and poor planning for quality. there is no doubt that there is a current and indeed pressing need to examine the implementation of quality management in many construction industries. considering the situation in nigeria is relevant with particular emphasis on the level of implementation and factors that impact on the implementation of quality management practices. 3. research approach there are various methods of data collection for a study, but the method adopted depends on the nature of the information required and other circumstances relevant to the topic or study area. there is no one perfect method; instead, any approach that will provide the required information is suitable. the literature review section of this paper shows that quality management practice in the nigerian construction industry needs to improve and that there are factors that affect the proper implementation of quality management activities in construction organisations. the status of quality management practice is rarely surveyed or examined in the context of construction industry performance evaluation (rotimi, 2013). to address the objective of assessing quality management practice, a survey of construction practitioners was deemed fit for the study. questionnaires were used as a survey instrument to widen participation, as they are ideal instruments in survey research approaches (kumar, 2011). structured questionnaires u. abdullahi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 17-25 21 were administered to construction companies based in abuja, the capital city of nigeria. abuja was selected for its proximity and because of the numerous housing development projects undergoing construction. the research participants were management staff within medium to large construction firms, as these could provide the necessary information on their respective organisations' quality management practices. a total of 76 questionnaires were administered, out of which 41 were returned in completed form for the analysis. the total number of completed questionnaires gives an overall response rate of 54%. 3.1 the questionnaire the questionnaire comprises three key sections. the first section captures demographic information about the survey participants. the second section covers questions to determine the extent of the usage of some quality management tools within the construction industry. the questions were based on mostly four-point scales from 1 to 4, corresponding to ‘never used', ‘occasionally', ‘usually' and ‘always used' respectively. the third section elicited the participant's perceptions of the factors affecting quality management practice within the construction industry. the responses were measured on a five-point scale from 1 to 5, corresponding to ‘strongly disagree', ‘disagree' ‘neutral', ‘agree', and ‘strongly agree‘ respectively. in analysing and evaluating the result of the study, descriptive statistics using frequencies, percentages and mean scores (ms) were used. to facilitate the use of the mean score formula, numerical values were assigned to the responses. the mean score was calculated using the formula:: 𝑀𝑆 = ∑𝐹𝑥 ∑𝐹 (1) where: ms = mean score, f =frequency of response to each factor and x = weighted score given to each rated factor. 4. results and discussion 4.1 demography of research participants table 1 gives a breakdown of the demographic information collected from the research participants. from the table, it could be observed that five categories of management staff participated in the research. their designations show that 12.20% are project managers, 26.83% are construction managers. site engineers and site supervisors' constitute 21.95% and 29.27% of the respondents and 9.76% of the respondents are lower-level site management personnel (such as foremen). a large percentage of the respondents (58.53%) have over ten years of working experience in the construction industry. concerning their background qualifications, the table gives a breakdown showing that 36.59% of the respondents are builders by profession, and 24.39% are civil/structural engineers. architects and quantity surveyors constitute 9.76 % each of the survey respondents. the majority (41.46%) of the respondents are bachelor's degree holders, 26.83% with hnd and 9.76% of them with diploma qualifications. only 7.32% have postgraduate qualifications. the demography presented shows that the respondents are qualified to provide valuable contributions to the research, due to their professional backgrounds, experience and education. table 1: characteristics of the survey respondents respondents characteristics frequency percentage designation of respondents project managers construction managers site engineers site supervisors others 5 11 9 12 4 12.20 26.83 21.95 29.27 9.76 working experience 0-5 years 6-10 “ 11-15 “ 16-20 “ above 20 years 7 10 7 8 9 17.07 24.39 17.07 19.51 21.95 profession architects builders civil/structural engineers quantity surveyors others 4 15 10 4 8 9.76 36.59 24.39 9.76 19.51 education m.sc. pgd b.sc. hnd ond and others 3 6 17 11 4 7.32 14.63 41.46 26.83 9.76 4.2 the use of quality management tools this section of the result shows the level of use of some quality management tools. respondents in the survey were requested to indicate how well the tools were used on their respective construction projects. 22 u. abdullahi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 17-25 table 2 gives a summary of the responses and the respective ranking of quality management tools in line with their frequency of usage. the mean score calculations facilitated the ranking for each quality management tool. table2: frequency of using quality management tools in the nigerian construction industry s/n quality management tools ∑f ∑fx mean rank 1 inspection ( materials, components and construction processes) 41 143 3.49 1 2 statistical sampling ( test on materials and component) 41 126 3.07 2 3 quality checklist (materials and processes) 41 109 2.66 3 4 use of quality management plans 41 101 2.46 4 5 issuance of clear work instructions on site 41 93 2.27 5 6 quality auditing 41 83 2.02 6 the results show that that inspection of materials/components and construction processes was ranked as the most commonly used quality tool by construction firms within the study area (mean = 3.49). the result agrees with the findings by elsawalhi and enshassi (2004) on the use of quality management tools within the malaysian construction industry. elsawalhi and enshassi (2004) had identified that inspection was the most commonly used quality management tool by contractors in malaysia. the study result shows that statistical sampling (e.g. testing of materials and components) was ranked second, with mean value equals to 3.07. quality checklist (for materials and construction processes) and use of quality management plans at the onset of every project were ranked third and fourth quality management tools consecutively. quality auditing was ranked the least quality management tool by the survey respondents. the low ranking of the quality management plan and quality audit seem to suggest that construction firms have not yet fully imbibed the modern concept of quality assurance. without quality audits, it is difficult to assess quality performance, talk less of being able to provide the necessary feedback that could improve practice. thus quality improvement, which is the primary objective of quality assurance (pmi, 1996), may seem farfetched in the nigerian construction industry. 4.2 factors affecting quality management practice the surveyed respondents were sought to rate the factors affecting quality management practice within the construction industry in nigeria. the result and analysis are presented in table 3. the result shows that inadequate / lack of planning for quality management in the construction industry was ranked as the most significant factor affecting quality management practice in the construction industry. the calculation of the mean score generated a value of 4.00. hence it is perceived as the most significant factor. immediately following planning inadequacies are poor communication of quality requirements among project team members (mean score = 3.73) and lack of awareness of the benefits of quality management (mean score = 3.71). other factors affecting quality management practice include the high cost of implementing quality management (mean score = 3.51); inadequate motivation of workers to achieve desired quality levels (mean score = 3.49); and lack of commitment from top management (mean score = 3.41). poor documentation procedures on quality issues (mean score = 3.17) and lack of continuous professional development among project team members (mean score = 3.27) were the least significant factors affecting quality management practices in the construction industry. on the whole, the results suggest a generally poor quality management practice with numerous factors contributing to this situation. it would also seem that the priority attached to quality is low compared to other project objectives. table3: factors affecting implementation of quality management in the construction industry s/n factors affecting the application of quality management ∑f ∑fx mean rank 1 lack of awareness on the benefits of quality management 41 152 3.71 3 2 high cost of implementing quality management 41 144 3.51 4 3 inadequate/lack of planning for quality 41 164 4.00 1 4 lack of commitment/support from top management 41 140 3.41 6 5 poor documentation procedures on quality issues 41 130 3.17 10 6 lack of attention to quality/ inadequate supervision 41 137 3.34 8 7 poor communication of quality requirements among the project team 41 153 3.73 2 8 inadequate motivation of workers for achieving desired quality level 41 143 3.49 5 9 lack of clear assignment of responsibility among project members 41 134 3.27 9 10 inadequate training/education of construction workers 41 138 3.37 7 5. discussion of findings it seems apparent from the study findings that key quality management tools are not being used in the construction industry to achieve desired quality performances in nigeria. the production of quality management plans should ideally be the rational starting point for any quality considerations in the execution of construction projects. u. abdullahi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 17-25 23 however, this is not the case as a quality management plan was ranked comparatively low to other quality management tools. quality auditing that could provide useful feedback on quality performance was also ranked low, suggesting that there is no desire for improved performance within the nigerian construction industry. inspection of materials/components and construction processes is the most commonly applied quality tool by their construction firms. this could suggest that traditional quality management concepts (inspections and statistical sampling) still have wide applications within the industry. this may mean that quality considerations are essentially about the control of the effect rather than preventative and continuous improvement approaches that have been suggested as the way forward in quality management practice in more developed construction industries. the study findings show that numerous factors affect quality management practice in the nigerian construction industry. chief of these factors was inadequate/lack of planning for quality, poor communication of quality requirements and lack of clear awareness on the benefits of quality management. these factors are significant and would require to be addressed by whole-of-industry. quality planning deserves particular focus by construction professionals, government and its compliance agencies. imbibing quality assurance principles would mean much more planning of quality issues before their actual performance in nigeria. these practice inadequacies may be responsible for the incidences of building failure, reputation issues and the high levels of client dissatisfaction with the products of the industry. 6. conclusion the paper has as a key objective, an assessment of quality management practice within the construction industry in nigeria. the study investigation also establishes the factors affecting the implementation of quality management principles within the industry. the study has primarily met these objectives. on the whole, the findings are suggestive of a generally poor quality management practice in nigeria. quality management plans are rarely produced for construction projects, talk less of follow on quality auditing to assure project owners. numerous factors contribute to this situation, but chief amongst this poor quality planning and poor communication of quality requirements amongst project execution teams. essentially quality management and control is pursued after the effect rather than preventative and continuous performance improvement. the priority attached to quality achievement seems low compared to other project objectives in nigeria. these are conclusions that may not be generalisable considering the relatively small size (and localized data from one nigerian city) used for the study investigation. more extensive data could have enabled a more rigorous statistical analysis to have been undertaken from which more reliable inferences could have been generated. simply the current study deserves further confirmatory investigations. however, within the limitations of the current study findings, the study recommends improvement in quality management practices within the construction industry in nigeria. the responsibility for this lies with project stakeholders. everyone must play their part; the client must understand that they are a part of the building production process and clearly define their requirements. designers must ensure they have interpreted those requirements and specify the criteria for quality achievement. the contractors must fully accept that all project scope/quality requirements are achievable and be committed to it. quality management practices need to meet minimum benchmark requirements. for any reasonable quality improvements to be visible in the nigerian construction industry, contracting organisations need to set up quality departments that will plan, control and monitor quality on and off-site. such departments that operate within the medium to large organisations in the sector will supervise all testing and control processes; take charge of all records on quality, and provide timely responses to operational teams. furthermore, attitudinal changes are required of professionals within the construction industry. all project participants should recognise 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(2012). contemporary issues in building collapse and its implications for sustainable development. buildings, 2(3), 283-299. jcbm (2017) 1(2). 24-34 building quality condition and maintenance cost: the case of public low income housing in abia state, nigeria c. p. ogbu1 department of quantity surveying, university of benin, nigeria1. received 27 january 2017; received in revised form 3 april 2017 and 11 april 2017; accepted 1 may 2017 abstract maintenance costs of buildings constitute major cost burdens on low-income housing dwellers, which worsens the housing affordability problem. the purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between physical condition and maintenance cost of low-income housing buildings. the buildings studied were randomly selected from the public lowincome housing estates in ehimiri and amauba in umuahia, abia state. data were gathered using structured questionnaire and score sheets. the questionnaire elicited responses on the respondents’ perception of their buildings’ physical conditions. the score sheets were used by trained research assistants to generate information on the physical features of the buildings. data analyses were carried out using spearman’s correlation. the study found that the element with the highest relative condition index (rci) is internal walls, while external wall finishes/decoration has the least. similarly, the element with the highest quality index (qi) is electrical services, while internal ceiling finishes/decoration has the least qi. there is no significant relationship between rci which is based on the respondents' perceptions and qi which is based on the research assistants' scores. the relationship between qi and annual maintenance cost is not significant, whereas the relationship between rci and annual maintenance cost is significant. the perception of the condition of a building by its occupant, rather than the physical features of the building, is the main driver of maintenance cost. consequently, low-income housing end users should be allowed to make inputs at the design and planning stages of their buildings. keywords: abia state; building condition; low-income housing; maintenance cost; quality condition; quality index. 1. introduction housing is basic to human life. it is a fundamental yardstick for estimating the quality of life of a nation’s citizens. almost every measure of human well-being is connected to housing, be it a measure of health, social, religious or economic factors (shaw, 2004; festus and amos, 2015). the indispensability of housing to humankind makes housing problems a global challenge. these problems are diverse and may take slightly different forms in different climes. notable problems associated with housing globally include health, affordability, accessibility, quality and maintenance issues (krieger & higgins, 2002; el-haram & horner, 2002; quigley & raphael, 2004). as is often the case, the housing problem of developing countries like nigeria is more severe, expressing itself in quantitative and qualitative forms (olayiwola, adeleye and ogunshakin, 2005). quantitatively, the housing problem of nigeria is that its 1 corresponding author. tel: +234-8037346343 email address: chukwuemeka.ogbu@uniben.edu demand outstrips the supply, and the cost exceeds the customers’ willingness to pay (aribigbola, 2011). qualitatively, it is agreed that available housing does not meet acceptable quality standards (coker, awokola, olomolaiye, and booth, 2008). foreseeably, this status has dire implications for low-income housing users in particular, because the poor quality building could lead to higher maintenance costs. aribigbola (2011) explained housing quality as the physical condition of the building and other facilities and services that make living in a particular area conducive. ilesanmi (2010) also perceived the quality of housing as related to its physical attributes such as the general state of the external finishing including rendering and paints, and the quality of operational elements like doors, windows, ceilings, roofing members and facia boards. contrariwise, some researchers view quality from the perspective of the university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:chukwuemeka.ogbu@uniben.edu c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 24-34 25 perception of the users of the facility (ibem, 2012; adeleye, azeez and yusuff, 2014; emankhu & ubangari, 2015). in this paradigm, the quality of a building will depend, not only on the actual physical condition of the building but on the user's perception of the state of the building. even with the preponderance of low-income housing research relying on user perceptions, there are still scarce attempts in literature to reconcile these two perspectives. irrespective of any researcher’s view of building quality, the effect of poor quality building is higher maintenance costs. maintenance costs can account for a significant portion of a country’s construction investments. for instance, maintenance and repair costs amounted to 37 percent of the total construction-related investments made in 2002 in sweden (krstić & marenjak, 2012). at the individual building level, office for national statistics (2014) reported that maintenance and repair costs took up 5% of housing expenditure in the uk. this may not be affordable for low-income earners, because the percentage may increase their total housing expenditure beyond 30% of their annual income. thirty percent is often taken as the upper limit for affordability of housing (miles, berens and weiss, 2003). already, a rising trend in the cost of maintenance of buildings in nigeria has been detected and is blamed on lack of adherence to building standards (faremi, adenuga, & ajayi, 2015). olusola and akintayo (2009) maintained that stakeholders accept buildings based on the quality of the workmanship and materials. this is so because the quality of a building is related to its life cycle cost of which maintenance cost is a sizeable portion (al-hajj, 1999; vlachy, 2014). in nigeria, the end users of low-income housing seldom make inputs at the pre-construction and construction stages of the project (ibem, opoko, adeboye & amole, 2013). they often have to live with whatever quality of housing is provided by the housing designers and contractors. in the attempts to reduce the cost of construction, the quality of low-income housing buildings may be compromised between the design and construction stages of procurement (adejimi, 2005). the designers of the projects attempt to specify cheaper materials ostensibly to make for affordability, while the contractors carry out shoddy workmanship to increase their profit margin. similarly, due to the excess demand for housing, these housing providers often give minimal attention to building quality with the notion that whatever is provided for the low-income group will be accepted. this concept has not held true in many cases, partly because residents’ satisfaction with their housing is strongly correlated with the buildings’ features (mohit, ibrahim & rashid, 2010). low-income housing buildings are frequently defective as a result (emuze, shakantu & wentzel, 2012; zunguzane, smallwood and emuze, 2012; dwijendra, 2013). consequently, unregulated building modifications, and sometimes, significant structural alterations have been carried out to improve the quality of low-income housing buildings in nigeria (ibem et al., 2013; ihuah & eaton, 2013). this compounds the affordability problem by increasing the cost of maintenance of the buildings. these issues lower the public's perception of low-income housing (husock, 2003; varady, 2004). despite this, the effects of building quality on maintenance cost remain inadequately addressed in literature. the aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between quality condition of low-income housing buildings and their maintenance costs towards informing providers of the low-income housing about the consequence of their choices on quality. the specific objectives of the research are to compute relative condition and quality indices (rci and qi) for a sample of low-income housing buildings and determine the relationships between the indices and the cost of maintenance of the buildings. hypothesis 1 there is no significant relationship between rci and qi of low-income housing buildings in the study area. hypothesis 2a ho: there is no significant relationship between qi and annual maintenance cost of low-income housing buildings hypothesis 2b ho: there is no significant relationship between rci and annual maintenance cost of low-income housing buildings 2.0 building quality condition the physical condition of a building refers to the state of its fabric. a building is a composite of different elements and materials. the deterioration or damage of an element of a building will diminish its utility – regarding aesthetics, functionality, and value. building maintenance, therefore, is an act directed at restoring the utility of a building, its component or element. every maintenance activity will entail one form of impact or the other on the physical condition of the building. it is assumed that residents judge the adequacy or habitability of their buildings based on predefined standards of physical condition (ilesanmi, 2010). some studies evaluated cognitive responses to the physical conditions of buildings focusing on issues such as the perceived quality of the buildings and environmental quality (kane, heaney & mcgreal 2000; fornara, bonaiuto & bonnes 2006; cold 1993). ilesanmi (2010) viewed the experience of ‘quality’ as originating in the interaction between the individual and the building. van der voordt and van wagen (2005) described quality as the extent to which a product fulfils the requirements set for it, and ‘architectonic quality’ as an umbrella term, covering various aspects of quality such as aesthetic, functional (building efficiency), symbolic and cultural value. in the low-income housing sense, a resident's perception of the quality of his/her building will be related to how ‘fine' it is. low-income earners are perceivably used to low standards and will ascribe a higher quality to inferior materials that can serve their purposes in line with the views of van der voordt and van wagen (2005). user evaluation has been the predominant approach to building assessment (al-momani, 2003). satisfaction, attitudes, and preferences are three types of criteria normally used. although these responses are not mutually exclusive, satisfaction has been more widely investigated as a criterion (lawrence, 1987; varady, 2004). the above studies have, however, not investigated the relationship between user satisfaction and maintenance cost of the buildings. likewise, the question whether user satisfaction 26 c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 24-34 is related to the materials used in the construction of a building requires further literature inputs. fang (2006) noted that housing condition is the main measure of residential satisfaction. thus, there is conceptually a relationship between the physical condition of a building and its user’s satisfaction, which requires further literature exploration. physical conditions of buildings, as stated by danguah and afaram (2014), include wall quality, construction quality, roofing, ceiling and windows. according to us housing and urban development (2009), the acceptability of houses depends on the physical condition of all the elements of the building. the present study attempts to depart from the solely constructivist approach, by measuring the quality indices of the buildings, based on the buildings’ construction materials and physical condition. 2.1 maintenance cost maintenance cost refers to the cost of ensuring that a building remains in a habitable condition. it is the total cost required to keep, restore or improve a building in a given period (faremi, adenuga, dada and john, 2016). the incidence of maintenance cost can be as a result of a planned maintenance activity or a cost incurred as a consequence of a breakdown (al-najjar, 1999). al-najjar (1999) identified three types of maintenance policies, namely, breakdown maintenance, age-based maintenance and condition-based maintenance. irrespective of the primary cause of the need for maintenance, it will involve altering the elements or fabrics of the building to restore or preserve the owner’s or the occupier’s requirements. uzarski and grussing (2008) explained that as buildings age and endure usage, some defects in building components that negatively affect its performance occur. ultimately, if these defects were not repaired, it would result in decreased utility from the building. shah ali (2009) identified existing building condition, building age, complaint received about building performance, client's request, availability of funding, and safety and health requirements as factors to be considered when making a decision on maintenance cost. in ali, kamaruzzaman, sulaiman and peng (2010), maintenance cost was depicted as being influenced by the tenant, political, maintenance, building characteristics and other factors. salleh, yakin, ismail and talib (2016) identified tenant, building characteristics, maintenance, regulation and other factors as affecting the maintenance cost of buildings. faremi, adenuga, dada and john (2016) focused on institutional buildings and found that building age and size are important factors affecting maintenance cost. el-haram and horner (2017) grouped the determinants of maintenance cost into building characteristics, tenants, maintenance, political and other factors. although physical, economic and socio-psychological dimensions of the neighbourhood are also considered parts of housing quality (galster, 1981), the consistent mention of building condition points to the importance of this factor in relation to maintenance cost. 2.2 previous similar studies kain and quigley (1970) evaluated the physical and environmental qualities of dwelling units in st. louis, usa. market prices of the buildings were regressed against the qualitative measures of the physical and environmental qualities of the dwelling units. part of the findings of the study was that the quality of a house has as much effect on its price as the quantitative aspects such as the number of rooms. this study adopts kain and quigley's (1970) approach regarding asking the dwellers to rate the physical conditions of their buildings. dwellers interact with their buildings. such interactions produce dispositions and perceptions about the elements of the buildings. the measure of a dwellers’ perception of their building, be it good or bad, is an indication of the quality of the building. kain and quigley’s (1970) study differs from the present study in context – not being low incomespecific, and not being based in a developing country. also, in the present study, rather than relate the quality of the buildings to their rental values, the quality of the buildings is related to their annual maintenance costs. harris (1976) compared housing quality to housing satisfaction and, similar to the present study, viewed housing quality as being dependent on buildings’ characteristics. the study concluded that a significant relationship exists between the two variables, but neither of the variables was related to the maintenance cost of the buildings. ilesanmi (2010) undertook a post occupancy evaluation of the medium and low-income housing estates in lagos state, in which measures of the estates’ quality of environment were related to the residents’ satisfaction with their estates. the study differs from the present study in two ways: in not being peculiar to the buildings, and in not relating the physical state of the buildings to their maintenance costs. maintenance cost is a major component of the life-cycle cost of the buildings. even where the cost of acquisition is low (which is the focus of most lowincome housing providers), the life-cycle cost can still make the building unaffordable for dwellers. although ilesanmi’s (2010) study and the present study are focused on nigeria, the former was based in lagos state, southwest nigeria, while the current study is located in abia state, south-east nigeria. it is still important to get research feedbacks from the different completed lowincome housing buildings in nigeria, especially regarding quality performance. this study fills this gap by relating the physical characteristics of the buildings (measured by qi), as well as the residents' perception of the features (measured by rci) to the buildings’ maintenance costs. olanrewaju and anifowose (2015) analysed the state of building conditions in ekiti state, nigeria, and identified seven major defects in buildings of which peeling and spalling of wall surfaces was said to be significant. the study did not explain whether the state of the buildings was consequential to their cost of maintenance. a similar approach was adopted in this study in that quality indices were computed for the elements of low-income housing buildings. also, in this study, the relative condition indices of the buildings were calculated to observe whether the perception of building quality by low income housing users is related to the physical conditions of the buildings. oseghale and ikpo (2014) evaluated defects in industrial facilities in selected estates in lagos state and disclosed that industrial buildings’ defects result from construction faults, design deficiencies, corrosion, physical aggression, moisture and rodent c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 24-34 27 attacks. the study noted that over 50% of the maintenance managers in the industrial buildings rated them highly regarding electrical services, external walls, and condition of windows. although the study did not attempt to relate the ratings to the buildings’ maintenance costs, it espoused the perspective that the views of users are relevant to the determination of building quality, which this study corroborates. 3 methodology in this research, the physical condition of a building was conceptualized as the physical state of parts of the building that can be seen and touched. these include the walls, roofs, doors and windows, finishes, electrical and plumbing installations, and soakaway/septic tanks. this study was carried out in three low-income housing estates in umuahia, abia state, south-east nigeria namely, ehimiri, amauba phase 1 and amauba phase 2. the housing estates were procured through public, private partnership arrangements between the government of abia state and the private sector (ibem, 2010; aso investment and development company, 2011). the number of houses in each estate as obtained from the abia state housing and property development corporation is shown in table 3. a questionnaire and a score sheet were used in the collection of primary data for the study. the questionnaire was administered on a house-to-house basis on occupants/beneficiaries of the low-income housing estates studied, while at the same time, research assistants used the inventory (score) sheets to capture information required for computing quality indices. the administration of questionnaire was done purposively. the reason for using this method was to ensure that copies of the questionnaire were given to knowledgeable adults that are capable of providing accurate data for analysis. microsoft excel was used to generate random numbers based on which house numbers were selected for the administration of questionnaires. in all, 305 copies of the questionnaires were distributed as shown in table 3. the sample size was obtained using the yamane (1964) formula for a finite population. 𝑛 = 𝑁 1+(𝑁×𝑒2) (1) where: n = sample size, n = population size (501), e = coefficient of confidence or margin of error or allowable error or level of significance (0.05). a sample size of 305 was obtained using this process. this paper adopts the queensland department of housing and public works’ (2012) classification and definitions of building conditions into ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘fair’, ‘poor’, and ‘very poor’ (see table 1). in the questionnaire, the residents of the low-income buildings were asked to rate the elements of their buildings on a scale of 1-5 as shown in table 1. table 1. definition of rating/condition of buildings rating status definition of building condition 5 excellent • no defects • as new condition and appearance 4 good • minor defects • superficial wear and tear • some deterioration to finishes • major maintenance not required 3 fair • average condition • significant defects are evident • worn finishes require maintenance • services are functional but need attention • deferred maintenance work exists 2 poor • badly deteriorated • potential structural problems • inferior appearance • major defects • components fail frequently 1 very poor • building has failed • not operational • not viable • unfit for occupancy or normal use • environmental/contamination/pollution issues exist department of housing and public works (2012 this approach was adopted based on the belief that the decision to spend on maintenance often depends on the occupier’s perception of the state of the building. the relative condition index (rci) of each of the subelements (for all the buildings covered by the study) was computed using equation 1. 𝑅𝐶𝐼 = ∑𝑤 𝐴×𝑁 (2) where w is the rating given to each sub-element by the respondents, ranging from one to five, a is the highest rating (i.e. 5 in this study), and n is the total number of samples. to obtain the quality indices of the different elements of the buildings, the trained research assistants were given score sheets containing the possible materials used in the 28 c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 24-34 construction of the visible elements of the low-income housing buildings. the materials employed in the visible elements were ranked as shown in table 2 in the order of their expected life spans. table 2. measurement of quality index for buildings building element score building element score roof internal floor finishing long span aluminium 5 vitrified floor tiles 6 clay dominant 4 non-vitrified floor tiles 5 ‘cameroon’ zinc 3 terrazzo 4 galvanised steel corrugated iron roofing sheets 2 pvc floor tiles 3 asbestos 1 broken tiles 2 external walls floor screed 1 225mm thick without cracks 4 external wall finishes & decor 150mm thick without cracks 3 wall tiles 6 225mm thick with cracks 2 rendered and painted 5 150mm thick with cracks 1 rendered but not painted 4 internal walls partly rendered but not painted 3 225mm thick without cracks 4 partly rendered and partly painted 2 150mm thick without cracks 3 not rendered 1 225mm thick with cracks 2 internal wall finishes & decor 150mm thick with cracks 1 wall tiles /rendered and painted 6 external doors rendered and painted only 5 all metal doors 6 rendered but not painted 4 metal doors and panel doors 5 partly rendered but not painted 3 metal doors and flush doors 4 partly rendered and partly painted 2 all panel doors 3 not rendered 1 panel doors and flush doors 2 services: electrical all flush doors 1 conduit wiring 2 internal doors surface wiring 1 metal doors and panel doors 5 services: mechanical/plumbing metal doors and flush doors 4 wc toilets operational with water supply 5 all panel doors 3 wc toilets operational with water fetched with buckets 4 panel doors and flush doors 2 wc toilets available without water supply 3 all flush doors 1 wash hand basin and sink available 2 windows wash hand basin and sink not available 1 aluminium sliding/projecting casement windows 4 external works: septic tank and soakaway metal casement windows 3 septic tank/soakaway available & neatly finished 3 louvre windows 2 septic tank/soakaway available but broken or not plastered 2 wooden casement windows 1 soakaway/septic tank unavailable 1 internal ceiling finishing external works: neighbourhood pop (plaster of paris) ceiling 3 serene, clean & beautiful neighbourhood 3 pvc ceiling 2 dirty neighbourhood with bad roads 2 asbestos ceiling 1 unsightly neighbourhood (slum) 1 external ceiling finishing external works: landscaping long span aluminum 3 clean environment with plants 3 pvc ceiling 2 clean environment but no plants 2 asbestos ceiling 1 unclean environ & no plants 1 external floor finishing vitrified floor tiles 6 c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 24-34 29 non-vitrified floor tiles 5 terrazzo 4 pvc floor tiles 3 broken tiles 2 floor screed 1 using the scores, the quality index (qi) of each of the sub-elements of the buildings was obtained using equation 2. 𝑄𝐼 = ∑𝑎 𝑁×𝑞 (2) where a is the score given to each sub-element by the research assistant based on table 2, q is the highest score for the element and n is the sample size additionally, the questionnaire elicited data on the average annual maintenance costs of the buildings covered by the study. the respondents were asked to state their average annual building maintenance expenditure. although some of the respondents were tenants, they bear maintenance costs that approximate to those borne by the building owners. in the estates covered by the study, tenants usually rent or lease entire buildings, rather than apartments in the buildings. this makes them be in charge of the buildings, with an agreement to vacate the buildings in good tenantable condition at the end of their stay. the rci and qi of the elements of each building were averaged. these averages were related using spearman’s rank correlation since the two datasets were on the ordinal scale. essentially, this test was to ascertain whether the low-income housing dwellers' perception of the condition of their buildings was related to the quality of the materials used in the construction. the relationships between each of the two indices and the annual maintenance cost of the buildings were likewise investigated using spearman’s rank correlation. table 3. abia state¬ low income housing estates¬ housing estates no. of houses no. of questionnaire shared no. of returned questionnaire ehimiri housing estate 439 267 187 amauba housing estate phase 1 26 16 9 amauba housing estate phase 2 36 22 18 total 501 305 214 4 results 4.1 relative condition indices of elements of the buildings based on the physical condition ratings of the respondents’ buildings, the element with the highest rci was ‘internal walls’ (rci=0.78), while ‘external wall finishes/decoration’ had the lowest (rci=0.45) (see table 4). this result is related to the use of predominantly sandcrete blocks in the construction of walls. the low rci for external wall finishes/decoration shows that the residents have a low opinion of their building’s external wall finishes. table 4. relative condition indices of building elements building elements very poor poor fair good excellent rci roof roof 4 4 112 84 10 0.69 walls internal walls 10 25 33 54 92 0.78 external walls 33 52 70 34 25 0.57 doors/windows internal doors 55 71 44 21 23 0.49 external doors 23 44 22 36 89 0.72 windows 12 16 55 72 59 0.74 finishes and decoration internal ceiling finishes/decoration 86 32 38 55 3 0.47 external ceiling finishes/decoration 65 41 45 63 0 0.50 internal wall finishes/decoration 77 23 43 66 5 0.51 external wall finishes/decoration 72 45 65 32 0 0.45 internal floor finishes/decoration 15 31 72 67 29 0.66 external floor finishes/decoration 66 56 59 33 0 0.46 30 c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 24-34 services electrical 66 36 56 30 26 0.52 mechanical/plumbing 21 44 62 56 31 0.63 external works/environment septic tank/soakaway 74 15 21 98 6 0.55 neighbourhood 22 54 32 54 52 0.66 lawns/landscaping 67 44 25 55 23 0.53 rci=relative condition index 4.2 quality indices of elements of the buildings the trained research assistants captured the types of construction materials used in the visible elements of the buildings. quality indices of the buildings’ elements computed on the basis of this data are shown in table 5. the results indicate that the electrical services element of the buildings were in good condition (qi=0.93). the conduit wiring system was used in most of the buildings, which must have contributed to this result. on the contrary, the internal ceiling finishes/decoration subelement was found to have a low qi (0.49). table 5. quality indices of building elements building elements 1 2 3 4 5 6 n qi roof roof 0 86 10 0 118 na 214 0.74 walls internal walls 45 6 152 11 na na 214 0.65 external walls 33 52 95 34 na na 214 0.65 doors/windows internal doors 27 0 112 21 42 12 214 0.57 external doors 0 0 22 33 54 105 214 0.86 windows 0 79 0 135 na na 214 0.54 finishes and decoration internal ceiling finishes/decoration internally 112 102 0 na na na 214 0.49 external ceiling finishes/decoration 109 24 81 na na na 214 0.62 internal wall finishes/decoration 0 0 15 28 72 99 214 0.87 external wall finishes/decoration 0 0 34 52 128 0 214 0.74 internal floor finishes/decoration 0 37 5 0 94 78 214 0.80 external floor finishes/decoration 66 60 0 0 76 12 214 0.50 services electrical 31 183 na na na na 214 0.93 mechanical/plumbing 0 44 50 45 75 na 214 0.74 external works/environment septic tank/soakaway 0 76 138 na na na 214 0.88 neighbourhood 4 123 87 na na na 214 0.80 lawns/landscaping 61 80 73 na na na 214 0.69 qi=quality index, na=not applicable test of hypothesis 1 given the outcomes in tables 4 and 5, it was hypothesised that there is no significant relationship between the rci and the qi of low-income housing buildings in the study area. a spearman’s correlation between the residents-rated rci and the research assistants-scored qi (table 6) revealed no significant relationship between rci and qi (p=0.372). indicatively, residents’ perception of the physical condition of their buildings is not related to the quality of materials used in their construction. c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 24-34 31 table 6. spearman’s correlation rci qi spearman's rho rci correlation coefficient 1.000 .231 sig. (2-tailed) . .372 n 17 17 qi correlation coefficient .231 1.000 sig. (2-tailed) .372 . n 17 17 test of hypothesis 2 spearman’s correlation was used to investigate hypotheses 2a and 2b. the results are shown in tables 7 and 8. table 7 indicates that there is an insignificant negative relationship between qi and annual maintenance cost (rs= -0.05, n=214 and p>0.05). on the contrary, table 8 shows that there is a significant positive relationship between rci and annual maintenance cost of the buildings (rs= 0.225, n=214 and p<0.05). the sum of ranks for the rci (370) and qi (221) shows that the annual maintenance cost of low-income housing buildings depends more on the perception of the physical condition of the building by the residents, than on the quality of the building materials. table 7. spearman’s correlation between qi and annual maintenance cost cost qi spearman's rho cost correlation coefficient 1.00 0.05 sig. (2-tailed) . 0.43 n 214.00 214.00 qi correlation coefficient 0.05 1.00 sig. (2-tailed) 0.43 . n 214.00 214.00 table 8. spearman’s correlation between rci and annual maintenance cost rci cost spearman's rho rci correlation coefficient 1 .225** sig. (2-tailed) . 0.001 n 214 214 cost correlation coefficient .225** 1 sig. (2-tailed) 0.001 . n 214 214 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 5.0 discussion of results the findings of this study are to the effect that while the internal walls of low-income housing buildings in ehimiri and amauba were perceived to have the highest rci (0.78), it is electrical services that have the highest qi (0.93). the residents are apparently satisfied with the state of the internal walls of the buildings, while the scoring based on the quality of materials used in the elements of the buildings show that relatively, electrical services have the highest qi (0.93). this type of difference between the opinion expressed by the residents and the actual state of their buildings captured by the qis led to an insignificant relationship between the two categories of indices used in this study. the external wall finishes and decoration having the least rci of 0.45 seems to tally with the observation of olanrewaju and anifowose (2015) that peeling and spalling of the lowincome surface is the predominant defect of buildings in residential buildings in ekiti state. however, while olanrewaju and anifowose (2015) blamed the problem on the use of kerosene cooking stoves in the kitchen areas, the external walls of the buildings covered by this study appear to have been affected by weather and frequent touching of their surfaces. despite this, it is possible that the low qi obtained for internal ceiling finishes/decoration (qi=0.49) was as a result of the use of kerosene stoves in the kitchens of the buildings. in a study of the maintenance of industrial buildings, 78% of the respondents were satisfied with the condition of the external walls of the buildings (oseghale & ikpo, 2014). this tallies with the present study in which the 32 c. p. ogbu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 24-34 external wall element has an rci=0.57 and qi=0.65. this confirms the expectation that the state of the external walls of a building is independent of the building’s type of use. further, this study points to the possibility of neglect of external wall finishes and decoration in lowincome housing (residential) buildings in the research area, even though the external walls themselves are in good condition. the results indicate that the residents rate the conditions of their buildings higher than the conditions are in reality, as measured by the qi. thus, although dwijendra (2013), emuze, shakantu and wentzel (2012) as well as zunguzane, smallwood and emuze (2012) concluded that the quality of low-income houses is often low or defective, the residents of such houses may be having a different view. this suggests that a distinction can be made between actual and perceived building qualities in the context of low-income housing buildings. however, this is at variance with the findings of harris (1976) and ilesanmi (2010), whom both found different degrees of significance in the relationship between the physical condition of the buildings they studied and residential satisfaction. it is to be noted that while harris (1976) included general measures of satisfaction such as ‘house comfort' and ‘house image', ilesanmi (2010) measured residential satisfaction using general statements on the user's perception of the entire estate. additionally, the qi is not significantly related to the annual maintenance cost of the low-income housing buildings, whereas the rci is significantly related to it. suggestively, the amount spent on building maintenance by the residents tends to be directly related to their perception of the condition of the buildings, rather than to the quality of the buildings measured by qi. 6.0 conclusion this study investigated the quality condition and maintenance cost of low income housing buildings in ehimiri and amauba housing estates, abia state nigeria. the study set out to determine whether the quality condition of the fabric of the buildings is related to their maintenance costs. rci and qi were computed for the elements of the buildings. it was found that internal walls has the highest rci of 0.78, while external wall finishes/decoration has the lowest rci of 0.45. the respondents consider the internal walls of their homes to be good but consider the exterior wall finishes/decoration of the buildings to be poor. contrariwise, it is the electrical services that were found to be of the highest quality (qi=0.93) using the qi metric, while internal ceiling finishes/decoration was found to have the lowest (qi=0.49). based on spearman’s correlation, a significant relationship does not exist between the rci and the qi, indicating that the relative condition of the buildings as perceived by the end users is not related to the quality of materials used in constructing the buildings. the rci and qi for each building were each related to the annual cost of maintenance of the buildings. it was found that the rci, rather than the qi, is significantly related to the cost of maintenance of the buildings. deductively, the residents’ building maintenance cost depends on their perception of the condition of the buildings, and not on the real quality of the building. the designers of low-income housing buildings should improve on their choice of materials for external wall finishes/decoration and internal ceiling finishes/decorations. materials with lower life cycle cost and higher maintainability should be preferred. 7.0 limitation of the study during data collection, the users of the low income housing buildings covered by this study were not separated into owner and tenant groups. in view of this, care should be taken in generalizing the findings of the affected sections of this study for either of the two groups. references adejimi, a., 2005, june. poor building maintenance in nigeria: are architects free from blames. in being paper presented at the enhir international conference on “housing: new challenges and innovations in tomorrow’s cities” in iceland. 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(new york, harper row publishers). zunguzane, n., smallwood, j. and emuze, f., 2012. perceptions of the quality of low-income houses in south africa: defects and their cause. acta structilia: journal for the physical and development sciences, 19(1), pp.19-38. 3. paper 1262 musa_rev jcbm (2022) 6(1) 33-42 an assessment of awareness and barriers to the application of lean construction techniques in kano state, nigeria 1mohammed mukhtar musa, 2ibrahim mallam saleh, 3yakubu ibrahim and4 mukhtar adamu dandajeh 1, 2, 3 & 4department of quantity surveying, abubakar tafawa balewa university, bauchi, nigeria received 08 september 2022; received in revised form 01 october 2022, 12 december 2022, 02 march 2023 and 04 may 2023; accepted 20 may 2023. https://doi.org/10.1564/jcbm.6.1.1262 abstract generally, the construction industry in most developing countries perform below acceptable quality standard and it is associated with cost and schedule overruns. to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the construction process, many countries adopt lean construction. however, previous studies indicated that the application of lean construction techniques is low in developing countries. this study aims to assess the level of awareness and barriers to the application of lean construction techniques in kano state, nigeria. the study adopted a quantitative approach, whereby 200 questionnaires were administered to construction practitioners in the study area. a total of 159 were returned completed, representing a 79.5 percent response rate. the data collected were analyzed using the mean score. the results reveal that the level of awareness/knowledge of lean techniques among construction practitioners in the study area is low. in addition, the study found that the major barriers to the application of lean techniques in construction projects are the absence of awareness workshops to enhance understanding of lc and the lack of education and training required to implement lean construction. this study can contribute to improving the understanding of construction practitioners and other stakeholders in the industry on barriers to the application of lean construction techniques and how to tackle them. keywords: awareness; barriers; construction projects; lean techniques; questionnaire survey. 1. introduction the construction industry helps in improving the quality of life of people by providing the necessary socio-economic infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, and schools (towey, 2012; aje et al., 2009). however, the industry is known for low performance (concerning project quality, budget, and schedule), poor project management, and an increase in rework and defects (ameh et al. 2010; aje et al., 2009; ramani and lingan, 2021; albalkhy and sweis, 2022 aslam et al. 2022). in developing countries where a significant percentage of materials and equipment are imported, these problems can be especially costly. to improve construction project delivery, many countries adopt lean construction (ballard and howell, 2003; albalkhy and sweis, 2022). lean construction (lc) is a method that improves effectiveness and efficiency in construction delivery processes. it focuses on waste reduction, value maximization, and meeting end users’ satisfaction, through continuous improvement (forbes and ahmed, 2011; koskela 2002, 1999; pinch, 2005; sarhan et al., 2017; mohammadi et al. 2022). generally, lean construction facilitates effective management of the three 1 corresponding author email address: mmmukhtar99@gmail.com goals of production that is transformation, flow and value (koskela, 1992; mano et al., 2021). the term “lean” was coined by a research team working on the international automobile industry (ballard and howell, 2003). the original thinking was to develop a delivery process that met customers’ needs with very little inventory, and failure to meet customers’ needs was considered as waste (forbes and ahmed, 2011). the drivers of lean include waste elimination, process control, flexibility, optimization, people utilization, continuous and efficient improvement, and value to customers (ogunbiyi et al., 2013). the basic principles of lean thinking are: specifying a value for specific products from the perspective of a customer; identifying the value stream for each product (all steps in the process that add value based on customer perspective); creating process flow without interruptions; allowing customers pull production (produce only what the customer wants just in time) and manage continuous improvement and perfection (womack and jones, 2003; ghosh and burghart, 2021). the application of lean principles in construction projects results in better utilization of resources. it also results in better construction quality in completed facilities, university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 34 eliminates waste, increases value/client satisfaction, and ensures higher levels of safety (ayarkwa et al., 2011; aziz and hafez, 2013; more et al., 2016; shurrab and hussain, 2018; albalkhy and sweis, 2022, ghosh and burghart, 2021; mano et al., 2021). thus, lean construction is an effective management tool to enhance productivity in construction. however, despite the benefits of lean principles in improving construction project performance, it has been reported that there are poor or non-application of most of them in nigeria (oladiran, 2017; babalola, et al., 2018). thus, there is a need to address this problem. this study aims to assess the level of awareness and barriers to the application of lean construction techniques in kano state, north-west nigeria, intending to improve construction projects' performance there. most of the studies (igwe et. al., 2022; ghosh and burghart, 2021; shurrab and hussain, 2018) on lean construction were conducted overseas. limited studies had been conducted in nigeria, and those studies concentrated on assessing the extent of implementing lean construction in nigeria while failing to assess the awareness and barriers to the application of lean construction techniques. thus, the present work is set to address this gap. this study is intended to answer the following research questions: 1. what is the level of awareness/ knowledge of various lean construction techniques among construction practitioners in kano state, nigeria? 2. what are the barriers to the application of lean techniques in construction projects in kano state, nigeria? the present study contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying barriers to the implementation of lean construction techniques in nigeria. as suggested by mano et al. (2021), understanding the barriers will help construction firms to concentrate their efforts towards determining the best way to tackle them for a better chance of success. 2. literature review 2.1 lean construction techniques several studies were conducted in various countries to assess the level of applications of lean construction techniques. enshassi et. al. (2019) investigated the application of eight lean construction techniques in reducing accidents in construction projects in gaza strip. the techniques studied includes last planner system, increased visualization, 5s, poka-yoke, daily huddle meetings, first run studies, kaizen, and 5 why’s. the results of the study revealed that, lean construction techniques were poorly applied in construction projects in gaza strip. aslam et al. (2022) developed a framework for the selection of appropriate lean tools based on their objectives and functionalities. the lean tools/ techniques presented in the study includes last planner system, just in time, concurrent engineering, daily huddle meeting, visual management, first run studies, six sigma, fail-safe for quality and safety, value stream mapping, 5s, and kaizen, among others. babalola et al. (2018) assessed the awareness and adoption of 32 lean tools/ techniques in the nigerian construction industry. the tools studied comprised of total quality management, last planner system, visualization tools, just-in-time, six sigma, concurrent management, kaizen, fail safe for quality and safety, and first run study among others. the study concluded that, the level of adoption of lean techniques in nigerian construction industry was low. ogunbiyi et al. (2013) conducted an empirical study of the impact of lean construction techniques on sustainable construction in the uk. the identified lean techniques include just-in-time, visualisation tool, daily huddle meetings, value analysis, value stream mapping, total quality management, fail safe for quality, 5s, total preventive maintenance, first run studies, last planner system, concurrent engineering, pull approach, kanban, kaizen, and six sigma. earlier, salem et al. (2005) conducted a similar study to test the effectiveness of some lean construction techniques including last planner, increased visualization, daily huddle meetings, first run studies, 5s process, and fail safe for quality. aziz and hafez (2013) assessed the application of lean thinking in construction industry in egypt. the study concluded that, lean construction can be achieved using the following techniques: concurrent engineering, last planner, daily huddle meetings, kanban system, quality management, and visual inspection. sarhan et al. (2017) investigated state of lean construction implementation in saudi arabia. the identified techniques that support lean implementation includes last planner, value stream mapping, standardized work, the 5s process, kaizen, total quality management, increased visualisation, fail-safe for quality and safety, daily huddle meetings, first run studies, the five why’s, just in time, plan of conditions and work environment in the construction industry, concurrent engineering, kanban system, poka-yoke, target value design, and partnering. the study concluded that, lean construction techniques were not adequately implemented in saudi arabia. from the above literatures it can be noted that lean construction can be achieved through applications of several techniques. table 1 presents 12 lean construction tools/ technique which have been mentioned in several studies. 2.2 barriers to the application of lean construction techniques several barriers to the application of lean construction were identified by previous researchers. for instance, alarcon et al. (2006) explore barriers to implementation of lean construction to include lack of time for implementing lc techniques in projects, lack of training, lack of self-criticism to learn from errors, low understanding of lc concepts, weak communication, and transparency among participants. shang and pheng (2014) identified 22 barriers to implementation of lean construction, these were categorized into six groups namely people and partner barriers, managerial and organizational barriers, lack of support and commitment barriers, cultural and philosophical barriers, government related barriers and procurement related barriers. more et al. (2016) concluded that the major barriers to implementing lean in indian construction industry were lack of lean awareness and understanding, cultural and human attitude issues, commercial pressure, lack of proper training, long implementation time required, lack of top management commitment, and educational issues. musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 35 table 1: summary of lean construction tools/techniques lean tools/techniques description sources last planner system (lps) this is a lean tool/technique for planning and control. it smooths workflow and addresses project variability to increase productivity in construction. the components of last planner system are look ahead planning, commitment planning, and learning. enshassi et. al. (2019), aslam et al. (2022), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), salem et al. (2005), aziz and hafez (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), ballard and howell (2003) daily huddle meetings these are short daily start-up meetings held as a means for continuous improvement. the project team members discuss issues related to the progress of the work plan, as well as challenges. the tool enables members to plan ahead and address problems before affecting project’s progress. enshassi et. al. (2019), aslam et al. (2022), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), salem et al. (2005), aziz and hafez (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), value stream mapping this tool facilitates evaluation of present state and planning a future state for a sequence of activities that make a product or services, from the start to finish. any non-value adding activity in the present state will be removed or make it more efficient when planning future state. aslam et al. (2022), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), forbes and ahmed (2011), ramani and lingan (2021). just-in-time this is a method of production that ensures delivery of actual material, manpower and equipment etc needed, at the exact time needed and of the actual quantities needed. this tool reduces flow times: production times and response times. aslam et al. (2022), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), howell and ballard (1998), forbes and ahmed (2011). increased visualization this technique is about using visual tools such as sign, diagrams and labels to display important information to workers at construction site. this comprises progress charts and schedules, as well as safety signs. the technique can lead to high level of participation among the workforces. enshassi et. al. (2019), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), salem et al. (2005), aziz and hafez (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), forbes and ahmed (2011). total quality management this technique enables organizations and their workers to concentrate on findings new methods to continuously improve the quality of their products and services. babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), aziz and hafez (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), mcgeorge and palmer (2002), forbes and ahmed (2011). five (5) s process the tool facilitate workflow and reduces various forms of wastes and thus improve the construction project performance. it also supports standardization of work processes which should be sustained for continuous improvement. the 5s words stands for (sort, straighten, shine, standardise and sustain). enshassi et. al. (2019), aslam et al. (2022), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), salem et al. (2005), sarhan et al. (2017), abdelhamid and salem (2005), forbes and ahmed (2011). first run studies first run studies (plan-do-check-adjust) involves planning critical or repetitive activities, implement the plan and study the activities, analyses and determine the most effective method of doing the work. the work method is then redesign and become new standard, and this process are repeated. enshassi et. al. (2019), aslam et al. (2022), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), salem et al. (2005), sarhan et al. (2017), kaizen kaizen is a continuous improvement tool that maximize value and reduce waste. it seeks to standardize processes and eliminate or reduce waste. it starts with recognizing a problem, and subsequently a need for improvement. enshassi et. al. (2019), aslam et al. (2022), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), forbes and ahmed (2011), fail safe for quality and safety this is a technique that prevents defective parts from flowing through the process. fail safe for quality depends on the generation of ideas that signify for potential defects. the project manager selected the activity that had potential quality defect problems to further study for prevention purposes. aslam et al. (2022), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), salem et al. (2005), sarhan et al. (2017), concurrent engineering concurrent engineering (ce) is a systematic approach in which activities in design and manufacturing phases of products and their related processes are integrated and manage concurrently. the aim of ce is to reduce time, and cost and uncertainties in project development. aslam et al. (2022), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), aziz and hafez (2013), sarhan et al. (2017), gunasekaran and love (1998), ngowi (2000). sixsigma sixsigma is an improvement strategy that reduces variation in any process to eliminate defects or faults. one of the fundamental components of this strategy is the dmaic methodology (define, measure, analyse, improve and control). aslam et al. (2022), babalola et al. (2018), ogunbiyi et al. (2013), maciel-monteon et al. (2020), shankar, (2009). musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 36 fadeke et al. (2016) presented 22 barriers to the implementation of lean construction, with absence of awareness program, and lack of adequate training as major barriers. enshassi et al. (2021) identified 39 barriers to application of lean construction techniques and categorized them into six groups namely management barriers, financial barriers, educational barriers, government barriers, technical barriers, and human attitudinal barriers. mano et al. (2021) identified the following as barriers to lean construction: lack of commitment to the team, difficulty in focusing the business on the customer, resistance to change arising from the fear of unknown practices, difficulty getting support and commitment from top management, resistance to change by the leadership, centralization of decisions, insufficient knowledge of managers to manage the change process, and inability to measure project progress. these barriers were synthesized and presented in table 2. 3. research methodology 3.1 method of data collection the study was conducted in kano state, north-west nigeria. this state was chosen because it has high concentration of construction activities in the region, as well as for accessibility of data. a questionnaire survey was employed as a method of data collection. according to sekaran and bougie (2009), questionnaire is widely used by researchers as an efficient means of data collection, because it can collect data fairly and easily. initially literature review was carried out in which 12 lean techniques that were severally mentioned in previous studies and 22 barriers to the application of lean techniques in construction were identified and used in the development of the research instrument. the lists of the identified lean techniques and barriers are presented in table 1 and table 2 respectively. a draft questionnaire was then designed and presented to eight experts who have experience or knowledge on lean construction (four professionals and four academicians) for validation. all the observations made by the experts were affected before the development of preliminary questionnaire. subsequently, a pilot survey was performed to pre-test the preliminary questionnaire. the purpose of the pilot test was to refine the questionnaire to ensure clarity of the questions in the research instrument. this process was suggested by sekaran and bougie (2009). a final questionnaire was then developed and divided into three main sections. section i is related to the general information of the respondents. section ii includes the list of identified lean techniques. respondents were required to specify their opinions on the level of awareness/ understanding of the lean techniques using a five point likert scale ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 represents not aware; 2= less aware; 3= moderately aware; 4= aware; and 5= very aware, this scale was used in a similar study by babalola, et al. (2018). section iii contains the list of barriers to the application of lean techniques in construction projects. respondents were asked to rate the effects of the barriers to the application of lean techniques in their projects using a five point likert scale ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 represents no effect, 2= low effect, 3= moderate effect, 4= strong effect and 5= very strong effect, this scale was used in a similar study by enshassi et al. (2021). the target population of this study was construction professionals with experience in building construction projects who are domiciled in the study area. these comprise architects, builders, civil engineers, and quantity surveyors. the total population was found to be 320 construction professionals as obtained from the directory of members of the respective professional institutions, (nigerian institute of architects, nigeria institute of builders, nigerian society of engineers, and nigerian institute of quantity surveyors) kano state chapter. the study used a sample size 175 construction professionals determined using krejcie and morgan's (1970) table. however, 200 questionnaires were administered to take care of non-return ones. the study used the simple random sampling technique to identify and select samples from the population as recommended by saunders et al. (2012). internal consistency for the responses of the data collected was calculated using cronbach’s alpha test as suggested by pallant (2011). 3.2 method of data analysis the data obtained from the questionnaire survey were evaluated for normality using statistical means (skewness and kurtosis). all the skewness and kurtosis range from -1 to +1 indicating that they are normally distributed as suggested by pallant (2011). subsequently, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages, standard deviation and mean score) descriptive analyses (frequency and percentage) were used to analyze the demographic information of the respondents. and in determining the level of awareness of lean techniques in the study area mean score ranking was employed. the same analysis was used in determining the effects of barriers to the application of lean techniques in the study area. this approach was adopted in a similar study by fadeke et al. (2016). the effect of each barrier was calculated through the following formula used by fadeke et al. (2016). 𝑴𝑺 = ∑ 𝒂𝒊𝒙𝒊 𝟓 𝒊#𝟏 ∑𝒙𝒊 ………eq. (1) where • ai = constant expressing the weighting assigned to response i; (ranging from 1 for no effect to 5 for very strong effect), • xi = frequency of the responses i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 4.0 data analysis and results this section analyses the data collected from the field survey and presents the results obtained. out of the 200 questionnaires administered, 159 were returned completed, representing a 79.5% response rate. the response rate is considered good as it is above that of previous studies of igwe et al. (2022) who reported a response rate of 55%, rosli et al. (2023) reported 74.3%, while albalkhy and sweis, (2022) reported 52.9%. musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 37 table 2: barriers to the application of lean construction s/n barriers sources 1 lack of management support and involvement in the implementation of lean in construction enshassi et al. (2021), alarcon et al. (2006), mano et al. (2021), shang and pheng (2014), more et al. (2016), fadeke et al. (2016) 2 centralization of decision making enshassi et al. (2021), mano et al. (2021) 3 resistance to change by the management enshassi et al. (2021), mano et al. (2021), shang and pheng (2014) 4 long implementation time required for lc techniques application enshassi et al. (2021), alarcon et al. (2006), fadeke et al. (2016), more et al. (2016) 5 poor communication among project parties enshassi et al. (2021), alarcon et al. (2006), fadeke et al. (2016) 6 poor coordination among project parties enshassi et al. (2021), alarcon et al. (2006), fadeke et al. (2016) 7 inadequate planning to apply lc techniques enshassi et al. (2021), 8 absence of long-term philosophy for construction improvement enshassi et al. (2021), shang and pheng (2014), fadeke et al. (2016) 9 high implementation cost of lean construction. enshassi et al. (2021), 10 lack of incentives and motivation to encourage employees to apply innovative strategies enshassi et al. (2021), shang and pheng (2014) 11 difficulty in understanding lc concept enshassi et al. (2021), alarcon et al. (2006), shang and pheng (2014), more et al. (2016), fadeke et al. (2016) 12 lack of knowledge and expertise needed to apply lean construction techniques. enshassi et al. (2021), more et al. (2016) 13 lack of education and training required to implement lean construction. enshassi et al. (2021), alarcon et al. (2006), shang and pheng (2014), more et al. (2016), fadeke et al. (2016), 14 absence of awareness program to enhance understanding about lc enshassi et al. (2021), fadeke et al. (2016) 15 lack of government support to construction firms towards implementation of lean construction enshassi et al. (2021), shang and pheng (2014) 16 difficulty in the implementation of lc enshassi et al. (2021), fadeke et al. (2016) 17 resistance to change by employee enshassi et al. (2021), mano et al. (2021), shang and pheng (2014) 18 lack of self-criticism to evaluate oneself shortcomings enshassi et al. (2021), alarcon et al. (2006) 19 poor performance-measurement strategies enshassi et al. (2022), mano et al. (2021) 20 lack of interest from the client enshassi et al. (2021), fadeke et al. (2016) 21 lack of agreed methodology for implementing lc enshassi et al. (2021), fadeke et al. (2016) 22 lack of knowledge sharing among construction organizations. enshassi et al. (2021), fadeke et al. (2016) 4.1 reliability test the reliability of the data collected from the field survey (internal consistency) was calculated through cronbach's alpha reliability test as suggested by pallant (2011). overall, cronbach's alpha for the questionnaire was 0.949, meaning that the participants’ responses were consistent and the reliability of the scale was very good as suggested by pallant (2011). 4.2 demographic distributions of respondents table 3 presents demographic distributions of the respondents. the results show that, 44% of the respondents work in construction firms, 32.7% in public sector, while 23.3% work in consultancy firm. in terms of academic qualification, 48.4% of the respondents hold bachelor’s degree and about 20% hold postgraduate degrees in relevant field. the results also reveal that, about 30% of the respondents have 5-10 years of experience in construction industry, 50% have 10-15 years of experience, and 14% have more than 15 years of experience. thus, based on these results, the respondents have adequate knowledge and experience to provide reliable information. musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 38 4.3 awareness/ knowledge of lean construction techniques among construction practitioners in kano state nigeria table 4 presents the level of awareness of lean construction techniques among construction practitioners in kano state, nigeria. table 3: demographic characteristics of respondents table 4: level of awareness of lean construction techniques sn techniques mean std. deviation rank 1 last planner system 3.37 1.265 1 2 daily huddle meetings 3.17 1.384 2 3 increased visualization 2.83 1.223 3 4 total quality management 2.80 .964 4 5 first run studies 2.53 1.168 5 6 just-in time 2.33 1.139 6 7 5s (visual work place) 2.29 1.172 7 8 fail safe for quality and safety 2.24 1.198 8 9 concurrent engineering 2.23 1.148 9 10 value stream mapping 2.22 1.215 10 11 six sigma 2.14 1.084 11 12 kaizen 2.03 1.124 12 average 2.52 the results reveal that the overall mean score of awareness level of lean construction techniques among construction professionals in the study area was 2.52, which is less than the average mean score of 3 (for a 5point likert scale ranging from 1-5) (enshassi et al., 2019). the results in table 4 also indicated that the two top-rated lean techniques with awareness levels above average (mean score of 3) were the last planner system (mean score = 3.37) and daily huddle meeting (mean score = 3.18). whereas the awareness levels of the respondents in the remaining ten lean techniques were below average (mean scores range from 2.032.83). the last three ranked lean techniques in terms of awareness were value stream mapping, six-sigma, and kaizen. s/n variables attributes frequency percentage 1 organization construction firm consultants firm public sector total 70 37 52 159 44.0 23.3 32.7 100 2 qualification national diploma higher national diploma degree (b.sc.) master’s degree ph.d. degree total 17 33 77 31 1 159 10.7 20.8 48.4 19.5 0.6 100 3 experience < 5 years 5-10 years 10-15 years above 15 years total 9 49 79 22 159 5.7 30.8 49.7 13.8 100 4 profession architect quantity surveyor builder civil engineer total 35 46 30 48 159 22.0 28.9 18.9 30.2 100 musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 39 4.4 ranking barriers to the application of lean construction table 5 presents the respondents' views on the effects of barriers to the application of lean construction techniques in the study area. the table indicates that the mean effect values of the 22 barriers identified from the literature range from 2.26 to 4.18. analysis of the results show that two barriers have mean scores greater than 4.00, ten barriers have mean scores between 3.00 and 4.00, and the remaining ten barriers have mean scores below average (less than 3.00). table 5: barriers to the application of lean construction 5. discussion of findings the results from this study indicated that there was a low level of awareness of lean techniques among construction practitioners in the study area (overall mean score was 2.52). awareness and knowledge of lean techniques among construction practitioners can increase the level of applications of the techniques in construction projects which will result in waste minimization and improve performance (babalola, et al., 2018). the finding agrees with oladiran (2017) that lean construction techniques were poorly implemented in lagos state, nigeria. however, the finding is contrary to that of babalola, et al. (2018) and fadeke et al. (2016) who found that there was an appreciable level of awareness and knowledge of lean construction and its techniques among construction practitioners in their study area. the contradiction of these findings with the current study may be as a result of different study areas. the practitioners in their study areas may be ahead in terms of the level of awareness of lean tools and techniques. value stream mapping, six-sigma, and kaizen were the least ranked techniques in terms of awareness level by the respondents. these are important lean construction techniques that reduce process variability, eliminate defects, and ensure continuous improvement (maciel-monteon et al., 2020; forbes and ahmed, 2011). barriers mean sd ranking absence of awareness program to enhance understanding about lc 4.18 0.73 1 lack of education and training required to implement lean construction. 4.09 0.61 2 lack of management support and involvement in the implementation of lean in construction 3.97 0.53 3 resistance to change by employee 3.86 1.01 4 lack of knowledge and expertise needed to apply lean construction techniques. 3.78 0.84 5 resistance to change by the management 3.72 0.91 6 absence of long-term philosophy for construction improvement 3.59 0.70 7 lack of incentives and motivation to encourage employees to apply innovative strategies 3.46 0.86 8 lack of government support to construction firms towards implementation of lean construction 3.39 0.59 9 lack of knowledge sharing among construction organizations. 3.22 1.20 10 centralization of decision making 3.20 0.63 11 poor performance-measurement strategies 3.17 0.68 12 high implementation cost of lean construction 2.87 0.78 13 difficulty in understanding lc concept 2.79 0.54 14 inadequate planning to apply of lc techniques 2.72 0.68 15 difficulty in the implementation of lc 2.66 0.92 16 poor coordination among project parties 2.56 0.73 17 lack of interest from the client 2.54 1.19 18 lack of self-criticism to evaluate oneself shortcomings 2.51 0.83 19 poor communication among project parties 2.31 1.07 20 long implementation time required for lc techniques application 2.29 0.79 21 lack of agreed methodology for implementing lc 2.26 0.69 22 musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 40 on the other hand, one of the objectives of this study is to explore barriers to the application of lean construction techniques in the study area. the results in table 5 revealed that the absence of awareness workshops to enhance understanding of lean construction among construction practitioners has been ranked the first (most important) barrier. this result is in line with the finding reported in table 4 that there was a low level of awareness of lean construction techniques in the study area. lack of awareness of the benefit of lean in value addition and waste reduction in construction projects can have a significant influence on the level of implementation of lean techniques in construction projects. this barrier can be overcome by organizing regular conferences and seminars for construction practitioners to enlighten them on the benefits of the application of lean techniques in their projects. the finding is consistent with previous studies (fadeke et al., 2016; enshassi et al., 2021 . the second most important implementation barrier is the lack of education and training needed by construction practitioners to implement lean construction. without adequate education and training on lean construction techniques, construction practitioners will not be able to have the required knowledge and understanding to apply the concept in their projects. to overcome this barrier, the lean construction concept should be incorporated into the curriculum of higher institutions of learning in nigeria. this can assist in producing potential construction professionals with adequate knowledge of lean thinking. this finding agrees with previous studies (alarcon et al., 2006; fadeke et al., 2016; enshassi et al., 2021 ). lack of management support and involvement in the implementation of lean in construction has been ranked as the 3rd barrier to lean techniques application. the successful application of lean construction techniques depends on management support and commitments (enshassi et al., 2021 ). to overcome this barrier, top management should support their employees with the necessary training and resources required for the effective application of lean techniques in their projects. this finding is in line with the previous studies (shang and pheng, 2014; enshassi et al., 2021; mano et al., 2021 ). resistance to change by employees has been ranked as the 4th barrier to the application of lean construction techniques. several construction practitioners in the study area are unfamiliar with most of the lean techniques. thus, fear of new practices may generate resistance to the application of the techniques by the employees. this barrier can be overcome by organizing training workshops for construction practitioners on lean construction to be equipped with adequate knowledge and skills for the effective application of the techniques in their projects. this barrier was ranked 19 of 22 barriers by shang and pheng, 2014; and 22 of 39 barriers by enshassi et al. (2021 ). the lack of knowledge and expertise needed to apply lean construction techniques has been ranked as the fifth barrier in order of importance. some construction practitioners in the study area do not have adequate technical skills to apply most of the lean techniques in their projects. without adequate knowledge and experience in lean, construction practitioners cannot apply lean techniques in their projects. the finding is consistent with previous studies (enshassi et al., 2021 ; more et al., 2016; shang and pheng, 2014). resistance to change by the management has been ranked as the sixth barrier in order of importance. fear of unfamiliar practices may generate resistance to the implementation of lean construction by top management due to a misunderstanding of the concept. to overcome this barrier, top management of construction companies should be prepared to accept changes in terms of the adoption of innovation and management techniques. this result is in agreement with previous studies (mano et al., 2021; shang and pheng, 2014). the seventh-ranked barrier was the absence of long-term philosophy for construction improvement. the absence of a long-term vision for construction improvement is a major hindrance to the implementation of lean construction. this barrier was ranked 1 of 22 barriers by shang and pheng (2014), and 12 of 22 barriers by fadeke et al. (2016). long implementation time and lack of agreed methodology for implementing lean construction were the lowest-ranked barriers to the application of lean techniques. these were ranked 36 and 13 of 39 barriers by enshassi et al., (2021 ), and ranked 14 and 9 of 22 barriers by fadeke et al. (2016). the results implied that the respondents do not consider these barriers as important in the application of lean construction techniques in the study area. 6. conclusion this study was conducted to determine the level of awareness and barriers to the application of lean construction techniques in kano state, nigeria. the finding from the study indicated that the level of awareness/ knowledge of lean techniques among construction practitioners in the study area was low with an average score of 2.52 on a scale of five. it can be concluded that construction firms in the study area are still using traditional approaches in project management instead of adopting innovative approaches that improve project performance. the study also found that the major barriers to the application of lean techniques were the absence of awareness workshops to enhance understanding about lean construction, lack of education and training required to implement lean construction, and lack of management support and involvement in the implementation of lean in construction. to address these challenges, regular workshops and seminars should be organized for all stakeholders of the construction industry to be enlightened on the benefits of the application of lean techniques in their projects. in addition, there is a need for the establishment of a lean construction institute in nigeria to promote and monitor lean construction practices in the country. this study helps improve the understanding of construction practitioners and other stakeholders in the construction industry on barriers to the application of lean construction techniques, as well as the best way to tackle them. the study also provides a basis for evaluating barriers to the adoption of innovation or new management techniques in construction projects and adds to the existing barriers to the application of lean construction techniques. despite the objective of the study was achieved, the followings are some limitations of the study. firstly, the sample size used for the conduct of this study was not large enough, however, it is sufficient for statistical analysis. secondly, descriptive musa et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 33-42 41 statistics (mean scores) were used in data analysis. thus, the findings of this study cannot be generalized. and thirdly, the geographical boundaries of the study cover only the northwest of nigeria. thus, a future study could be conducted with a larger sample size that covers the entire country. references abdelhamid, t., & salem, s. 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(2003). lean thinking: banish waste and create wealth in your corporation. new york: free press. jcbm (2018) 2(2). 24-35 evaluation of risk factors and their impact on road projects f. leo-olagbaye1 and h. odeyinka2 1,2 department of quantity surveying, obafemi awolowo university, nigeria. received 8 january 2018; received in revised form 9 february 2018, 12 april 2018; accepted 19 june 2018 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.486 abstract construction projects are generally known to be susceptible to risks. this results in an inability to meet performance targets. this paper assessed the risk factors encountered in the delivery of road projects in osun state, nigeria. a questionnaire survey was used to obtain data from all the 146 construction professionals involved in the construction of the 34 road projects executed in the study area. the professionals comprised of 34 consultant civil engineers, 34 consultants’ civil engineers, 34 consultant quantity surveyors, 34 consultants’ quantity surveyors, one project financier and 9 project managers, making a total of 146 respondents. using two-dimensional scaling, the respondents were asked to provide opinions on risk occurrence and their impacts on road projects. the data collected were analysed using mean ranking analysis and student ttest. a further analysis was carried out using factor analysis to reduce the factors impacting road projects into fewer factor components. the results revealed that the risk factors with high extent of occurrence are in the order of change in scope of work, defective design, error and re-work, change in design, delay in availability of design details and unforeseen adverse conditions. surprisingly, the top ranking risk factors are not the ones with high impact based on the result of the analysis. using factor analysis, 9 component factors regarding the extent of risk occurrence were obtained and they accounted for 73.73% of the variance explained while 4component factors were obtained regarding the impact of risk occurrence and they accounted for 46.16% of the variance explained. the study concluded that professionals involved in the delivery of road projects need to be aware of the significant risk factors impacting road projects and put proactive risk management approach in place to deal with them to avoid surprises. keywords: performance, projects, risk factors, risk impact, road. 1. introduction the national transport policy for nigeria (federal government of nigeria (fgn), 2010) outlined the benefits of efficient infrastructure to include the stimulation of national development, enhancement of quality of life, facilitation of the movement of goods and people, connection of spatially separated facilities, facilitation of community and national integration among others. awodele, ogunlana and motawa (2009) also concluded that road networks are key business drivers. several attempts have been made by various tiers of government responsible for road construction in nigeria to successfully deliver road projects, but evidence abounds regarding project abandonment, low quality or delayed delivery, and excessively high construction cost (udeh and onwuka, 2015). it has been established that road projects are capital intensive and require proper 1 corresponding author email address: feyileo2@gmail.com planning as well as a well-coordinated execution (pmi,2012). the attributes mentioned above make road projects risky and uncertain. the risk and uncertainty result in failure to meet performance targets (greedy, 2005). according to mousavi, mojtahedi and makui (2011), road projects have peculiar characteristics; these includes the multiplicity of project participants, substantial financial requirement, complex procurement methods among others. this emphasizes the need to understand the specific risks and deploy appropriate risk management strategies on road projects. as a result of the infrastructure deficit in nigeria, road projects are being proposed and executed in different locations. unfortunately, previous studies reported that formal risk management techniques needed to avoid time and cost overruns on projects and enhance profitability were not utilised in the nigerian university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.486 mailto:feyileo2@gmail.com f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 25 construction industry (windapo et al., 2010 and dada, 2010). studies have been carried out on risk identification and management on construction projects, but limitations abound. for instance, hazim and salem (2015) investigated the key factors causing a delay in road projects in jordan, but the study was based on literature review only. ehsan et al. (2010) identified the common risks factors and uncertainties within the building industry in pakistan, but the research was not empirical as it was based on literature review only. odeyinka et al. (2005) conducted a study on the likelihood of occurrence and impact of risk factors, but the study was limited to building projects only. similarly, belel and mahmood (2012) used a questionnaire survey to assess risk management practices on building projects in nigeria while alagwe and adegoke (2013) analysed risk factors affecting project performance in southwestern nigeria, both studies also failed to consider roadworks. therefore, this study aims to address the identified gap in the literature by identifying and analysing the risk factors impacting road projects in osun state, nigeria. the study area was selected because of the preponderance of road projects there at the time of this study. the findings of this study are expected to enhance the success of road projects regarding cost and time performances. 2. risk and road project risks according to baloi and price (2003), risk refers to the possibility of an unfavourable occurrence in the course of executing a project. devripasadh (2007) submitted that within the construction industry, the risk is perceived as any internally or externally motivated event which negatively affects the objectives of a project. baloi and price (2003) submitted that risk concept is influenced by the viewpoint, attitude, and experience of an individual. it is also believed that individuals interpret risk based on areas of practice; for instance, financial managers often perceive risk from the financial standpoint while engineers view it from the technological standpoint (baloi and price, 2003). uncertainties characterise construction projects, this is as a result of issues such as planning needs, design demands, resource sourcing, climatic conditions and economic policies among others (greedy, 2005). in the project context, the association for project management (apm) (2012) defines risk as ‘an unknown event that, if it occurs, will affect the achievement of one or more project objectives’. also, the project management institute (pmi) (2016) defines risk as an uncertain occurrence that, if it occurs will have either a positive or negative effect on one or more of the project’s objectives’. a peculiar inclusion in the pmi definition is the probability of a risk having either favourable or an unfavourable impact on the objectives of a project. miller and lessard (2001) conducted a study on large engineering projects; the study categorised risks according to three sources. the sources are market, completion and instructional; market risks are caused by uncertainties in demand, completion risks can be described as strategic risks occurring at pre and post completion of a project while experimental risks are associated with uncertainties regarding specification (miller and lessard, 2001). smith (1999) agreed that risks in road projects arise from various sources which include technical, environmental, health, political, and market sources. management of risk is key to a successful project, but assessment of risk is complex and sometimes not understood in practice (smith, 1999). zou et al. (2007) highlighted the common risk factors on road projects to comprise work changes, delay in contract payment, client’s financial incapability, and labour issues among others. similarly, odeyinka et al. (2007) identified before and after contract risk factors in the construction industry in nigeria, risk in design, estimating, tendering, and tender evaluation was among the risks identified. in a related study, cohen and palmer (2004), identified risk factors in road projects to include project scope change, design errors and omissions, insufficient skilled workers, subcontractors and contractors’ experience. also, osama and salman (2003) identified three classes of road risks, comprising of financial risk, time and design–related risks. in contrast, a similar study conducted by mousavi et al. (2011) classified risk factors involved in road projects under four significant headings namely: engineering, procurement, construction and management. from the preceding, it is evident that the term ‘risk' has several definitions but the fact that it is the likely occurrence of an event is common to all definitions. also, risk factors are classified under different headings by different authors from various perspectives. it is also interesting to note that risk in construction has been viewed from different perspectives such as the construction industry as a whole, large engineering projects, pre and post-contract stages of building projects, road projects among others. however, the concern of this study is a risk as they relate to road projects. presented in the next section is the research method adopted in this study. 3. research methods this study commenced with a review of related literature to extract the risk factors potentially thought to impact road projects. the survey research design was adopted in carrying out the study as it was considered appropriate in reaching a wider number of respondents. a structured questionnaire survey was administered on construction professionals who participated in road projects in osun state, nigeria between 2011 and 2015. osun state was chosen as the study area because of the preponderance of road projects during the period under consideration. the state comprises of 30 local government areas, 1 area office and 3 senatorial districts. one road project was selected from each of the 30 local governments, one area office and one from each of the 3 senatorial districts giving a total of 34 road projects. all the stakeholders that participated in these road projects were engaged in the questionnaire survey. the stakeholders consist of 34 consultant civil engineers, 34 consultants’ civil engineers, 34 consultants’ quantity surveyors, 34 contractors’ quantity surveyors, one project financier and 9 project managers, making a total of 146 respondents who constitute the study population. due to 26 f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 the manageable size, a total enumeration of the study population was engaged in the questionnaire survey. thus, there was no need for sampling. the questionnaire design was based on 33 risk factors identified from literature and from discussions with professionals involved in road construction. respondents’ opinions were sought using a two-dimensional scaling based on the theory of two-dimensional nature of risk (williams, 1996). the theory suggests that risk analysis should be based on the pair of risk occurrence and risk impact. a 0 to 5 (i.e. 6-point) likert-type scale was used to assess respondents’ strength of opinions whereby 0 meant no risk occurrence and no impact and 5 meant very high probability of risk occurrence and very high impact. presented in table 1 is the background information of the respondents. from the table, it is evident that the respondents are well experienced with 10.78 mean years of experience. they are highly educated, professionally qualified and they have been previously involved in handling road projects. thus, the responses provided by them could be relied upon. the outcome of the survey and associated discussions are presented in the next section. table 1: respondents’ background information background information parameters frequency per cent cum. freq. mean years of experience in road construction 0-5 years 3 2.6 2.6 10.78 6-10 years 64 55.7 58.3 11-15 years 32 27.8 86.1 16-20 years 12 10.4 96.5 over 20 years 4 3.5 100 professional designation consultant's ce 30 26.1 26.1 contractor's ce 21 18.3 44. consultant's qs 28 24.3 68.7 contractor's qs 26 22.6 91.3 project financier 1 .9 92.2 project manager 9 7.8 100 educational qualification hnd 17 14.8 14.8 b.sc/b.tech/b.engr 56 48.7 63.5 m.sc/m/tech/mba 36 31.3 94.8 phd. 6 5.2 100 professional qualification mnse/fnse 35 30.4 30.4 mniqs/fniqs 58 50.4 80.4 mice/fice 10 8.7 89.1 mrics/frics 6 5.2 94.3 mapm/pmp 6 5.2 100 road projects executed in last five years 0-5 27 23.5 23.5 8.80 6-10 50 43.5 67.0 11-15 29 25.2 92.2 16-20 4 3.5 95.7 over 21 5 4.3 100 total 115 100.0 a total of 146 questionnaires were administered, and 115 were returned, filled and fit for analysis. data analysis was done using mean ranking analysis, student t-test and factor analysis. the mean score was used to rank the risk factors, and it was calculated using the formula in equation 1. 𝑀𝑆 = 5n5+4n4+3n3+2n2+1n1+0n0 n5 + n4 + n3 + n2 +n1 + n0 (equation 1) where, ms = mean score n0= no of respondent who chose “no occurrence” or “no impact” n1 = no of respondents who chose "very low occurrence" or "very low impact." n2 = no of respondent who chose “low occurrence” or “low impact” n3 = no of respondent who chose “moderate occurrence" or "moderate impact" n4 = no of respondents who chose "high occurrence" or "high impact." n5 = no of respondents who chose " very high occurrence" or " very high impact." student t-test was used to test the hypothesis of no difference between the mean scoring of clients’ consultants and contractors’ organisations while factor analysis was used to categorise the occurrence of risk factors and their impact on road projects. to establish the adequacy of the factor loading arising from factor analysis the kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo) and bartlett’s test of sphericity were used. the bartlett’s test tests the hypothesis which states that the original correlation matrix is an identity matrix. for the use of factor analysis to be adequate, kaiser stated that values greater than 0.5 are acceptable, this condition was satisfied in this study. 4. presentation of results presented in this section is the result of data analysis with relevant discussions. f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 27 4.1 analysis of extent of occurrence of risk factors in the delivery of road projects table 2 presents the results of data analysis on the extent of occurrence of risk factors in the delivery of road projects. table 2 shows that the top 5 risks factors regarding occurrence include ‘change in project scope', ‘defective design, error and rework', ‘change in design', ‘delay in availability of design details' and ‘unforeseen adverse ground condition'. these risk factors have a mean score ranging from 3.64 to 3.73 on a likert-type scale of 0-5. a statistical test using student t-test was carried out at 5% level of significance to test the hypothesis that there is no statistical difference in the mean responses of clients’ consultants and responses from contractors’ organisations on the extent of occurrence of the identified 33 risk factors in the delivery of road projects they were involved with. table 2 shows the tstatistics and the p-values. however, four risk variables namely ‘high maintenance cost', ‘nonavailability of spare parts for construction plant and equipment', ‘shortage of experts in road construction' and ‘change in government' were found to have statistically significant different mean values(p<0.05). whereas high maintenance cost ranked 6th in the overall mean score, it ranked 13th and 2nd under the client's consultants and contractors' organisations scoring respectively. this is not surprising because contractors are more involved in post construction road maintenance and tend to be more aware of the high cost of maintenance than the consultants who were only involved at the design and construction stages. hence, they scored this risk factor higher. similarly, nonavailability of spare parts for construction plant and equipment ranked 23rd and 5th under the client's consultants, and contractors' organisations scoring respectively but ranked 11th overall. table 2: extent of occurrence of identified risk factors in the delivery of road projects risk factors overall mean score overall rank client’s consultant mean rank contractors' organisations mean rank t-statistic p-values change in scope of work 3.73 1 3.63 2 3.87 1 1.604 0.208 defective design, error and rework 3.70 2 3.63 2 3.80 5 0.881 0.350 change in design 3.65 3 3.54 7 3.80 5 1.933 0.167 delay in availability of design details 3.64 4 3.51 9 3.83 3 2.685 0.104 unforeseen adverse ground condition 3.64 4 3.71 1 3.54 19 0.714 0.400 high maintenance cost 3.61 6 3.45 13 3.85 2 5.640 0.019* contractors cash flow problem 3.60 7 3.62 4 3.59 15 0.032 0.859 poor relationship with the community 3.59 8 3.42 16 3.83 3 3.918 0.050 shortage of major road construction materials 3.56 9 3.42 16 3.76 9 3.301 0.072 lack of commitment between parties 3.56 9 3.55 5 3.57 18 0.005 0.943 nonavailability of spare parts for construction plants and equipment 3.54 11 3.35 23 3.80 5 6.332 0.013* lack of attention to market conditions 3.54 11 3.48 10 3.63 14 0.729 0.395 subcontractors incompetence 3.53 13 3.38 20 3.74 10 3.540 0.063 lack of attention to contract requirements 3.53 13 3.54 7 3.52 23 0.009 0.924 inclement weather 3.52 15 3.48 10 3.59 15 0.331 0.566 shortage of experts in road construction 3.51 16 3.32 25 3.78 8 6.076 0.015* public opposition to projects 3.51 16 3.38 20 3.70 12 2.270 0.135 shortage of equipment 3.50 18 3.35 23 3.72 11 3.587 0.061 shortage of skilled labourers 3.50 18 3.38 20 3.65 13 2.194 0.141 delay in receiving projects permits and approval 3.50 18 3.55 5 3.43 27 0.367 0.546 delay in payment by the client 3.48 21 3.43 14 3.54 19 0.400 0.529 inadequate specification 3.48 21 3.48 10 3.48 25 0.000 0.994 failure of major construction equipment 3.47 23 3.42 16 3.54 19 0.404 0.526 inflation/interest rate fluctuation 3.46 24 3.40 19 3.54 19 0.517 0.474 lack of legal, regulatory framework 3.42 25 3.31 27 3.59 15 2.313 0.131 28 f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 lack of communication between central office and site office 3.41 26 3.43 14 3.37 29 0.114 0.737 adverse ground condition 3.38 27 3.32 25 3.46 26 0.536 0.466 foreign exchange rate fluctuation 3.36 28 3.25 29 3.52 23 1.865 0.175 flood 3.32 29 3.25 29 3.43 27 0.772 0.382 strong political interference 3.27 30 3.31 27 3.22 30 0.267 0.606 government officials demanding bribe/unjust reward 3.20 31 3.18 31 3.22 30 0.024 0.877 project documents not issued on time 3.11 32 3.15 32 3.04 32 0.343 0.560 change in government 2.95 33 3.14 33 2.67 33 6.345 0.013* *p-value is significant at 0.05 a further analysis was carried out regarding the extent of occurrence of risk factors using factor analysis. the goal was to reduce the 33 risk variables to smaller groups of factors. the principal component analysis ‘varimax rotation method’ was utilised. table 3 shows the total variance explained and how the variance is distributed among the 33 risk occurrence variables. it should be noted that nine factors have eigenvalues (i.e. a measure of explained variance) greater than 1.0, a common criterion for determining the usefulness of a factor. together these nine factors accounted for 73.73% (more than two-thirds) of the variance in the original variables. this suggests that nine component factors were associated with the perception of client’s consultants as well as contractor organisations regarding the extent of risk occurrence in the delivery of road projects, but there was room for much-unexplained variation. tables 3 and 4 show the total variance explained by the factors and the rotated component matrix for the extent of risk occurrence respectively. table 3: total variance explained for extent of risk occurrence component initial eigenvalues extraction sums of squared loadings rotation sums of squared loadings total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % 1 10.082 30.552 30.552 10.082 30.552 30.552 3.821 11.577 11.577 2 3.007 9.112 39.663 3.007 9.112 39.663 3.561 10.792 22.369 3 2.273 6.887 46.551 2.273 6.887 46.551 2.810 8.516 30.885 4 1.941 5.883 52.433 1.941 5.883 52.433 2.567 7.780 38.665 5 1.918 5.813 58.247 1.918 5.813 58.247 2.526 7.653 46.318 6 1.508 4.571 62.818 1.508 4.571 62.818 2.516 7.623 53.941 7 1.312 3.975 66.793 1.312 3.975 66.793 2.510 7.605 61.547 8 1.208 3.661 70.454 1.208 3.661 70.454 2.510 7.605 69.151 9 1.081 3.277 73.731 1.081 3.277 73.731 1.511 4.580 73.731 10 .881 2.671 76.401 11 .811 2.456 78.858 12 .661 2.004 80.862 13 .654 1.983 82.845 14 .537 1.629 84.474 15 .496 1.504 85.978 16 .477 1.445 87.422 17 .453 1.373 88.795 18 .401 1.214 90.010 19 .384 1.165 91.174 20 .340 1.029 92.203 21 .311 .942 93.145 22 .286 .867 94.012 23 .270 .818 94.831 24 .247 .748 95.579 25 .242 .733 96.311 26 .219 .663 96.974 27 .209 .632 97.607 28 .177 .535 98.142 29 .161 .487 98.629 30 .139 .420 99.049 31 .115 .348 99.397 32 .111 .337 99.734 f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 29 33 .088 .266 100.000 extraction method: principal component analysis table 4: rotated component matrix for extent of risk occurrence component 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 poor relationship with the community .826 public opposition to projects .800 shortage of equipment .766 shortage of major road construction materials .664 inflation/interest rate fluctuation .639 project documents not issued on time .841 change in government .824 strong political interference .788 government officials demanding bribe/unjust reward .774 foreign exchange rate fluctuation .598 inadequate specification .789 delay in receiving projects permits and approval .729 non-availability of spare parts for construction plants and equipment .727 lack of communication between central office and site office .603 .534 shortage of experts in road construction .843 shortage of skilled labourers .790 subcontractors incompetence .657 lack of commitment between parties .535 change in scope of work .843 change in design .772 high maintenance cost .727 delay in availability of design details lack of attention to contract requirements .830 defective design, error and rework .690 delay in payment by the client .890 contractors cash flow problem .805 failure of major construction equipment .714 adverse ground condition .811 inclement weather .723 flood .644 lack of attention to market conditions .757 lack of legal regulatory framework note -extraction method: principal component analysis. rotation method: varimax with kaiser normalization. rotation converged in 9 iterations. the nine principal factors extracted are interpreted as follows (see table 4 for factor loadings): factor 1: socio-economic risk factor 2: socio-political risk factor 3: project regulation and administration; factor 4: shortage of skilled and committed manpower risk; factor 5: project complexity risk; factor 6: design risk; factor 7: financial risk; factor 8: environmental risk; factor 9: legal and economic risk. factor 1: socio-economic risks this factor loading incorporates the following five risk variables: poor relationship with community, public opposition to projects, shortage of equipment, shortage of major road construction materials and inflation/interest rate fluctuation. these risk variables have loadings of 0.826, 0.800, 0.766, 0.664, and 0.639, respectively. factor 2: socio-political risk this factor loading incorporates the following five risk variables: project documents not issued on time, change in government, strong political interference, government officials demanding bribe/unjust reward and foreign exchange rate fluctuation. these five components have loadings of 0.841, 0.824, 0.788, 0.774, and 0.598, respectively. factor 3: project regulation and administration loaded on this factor are the following four risk variables: inadequate specification, delay in receiving projects permits and approval, non-availability of spare parts for construction plants and equipment as well as lack of communication between central office and site office. these four components have loadings of 0.789, 0.729, 0.727, 0.774, and 0.603, respectively. 30 f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 factor 4: a shortage of skilled and committed manpower risk the four risk variables that loaded onto factor 4 comprise of a shortage of experts in road construction, shortage of skilled labourers, subcontractors’ incompetence and lack of commitment between parties. these four components have loadings of 0.843, 0.790, 0.657, and 0.535 respectively. factor 5: project complexity risk risk variables that loaded unto factor 5 comprise of change in scope of work, change in design and high maintenance cost. these three components have a loading: 0.843, 0.772 and 0.727 respectively. factor 6: design risk it is evident from table 3 that these two risk variables, namely, lack of attention to contract requirements, and defective design, error and rework loaded unto project design risk. these two components have a loading of 0.830 and 0.690 respectively. factor 7: financial risks likewise, the three risk variables that loaded onto the seventh factor relates to funding of the project. they comprise of delay in payment by the client, contractors cash flow problem and failure of major construction equipment. this factor was labelled, “financial risks”. these three components have factor loadings of 0.890, 0.805 and 0.714 respectively. factor 8: environmental risks the three risk variables that loaded onto factor eight are an adverse ground condition, inclement weather and flood. this was labelled, “environmental risks. these three components have factor loadings of 0.811, 0.723 and 0.644 respectively. factor 9: poor legal and economic risks lack of communication between central office and site office” had its highest loading from the third factor with a cross-loading over the ninth factor. lack of attention to market conditions also loaded on this factor. this factor was categorised as “legal and economic risks”. 4.2 impacts of risk factors in the delivery of road projects this section examines the perceptions of client’s consultants and contractors’ organisations on the impacts of the identified risk factors on the delivery of road projects. the 33 risk factors derived from literature as potentially affecting the delivery of road projects were analysed and presented in table 5. the result showed that the nine (9) top ranking risk factors with high impacts on the delivery of road projects are ‘change in government’, ‘lack of attention to contract requirements’, ‘poor relationship with community’, ‘strong political interference’, ‘contractors’ cash flow problem’, ‘delay in payment by the clients’, ‘inflation/interest rate fluctuations’, ‘unforeseen adverse ground condition’ and ‘projects documents not issued on time’. further analysis with t-test was carried out to test the hypothesis that there was no statistically significant difference in the perceptions of client’s consultants and contractors’ organisations on the impact of the 33 identified risk factors in the delivery of road projects. the results shown in table 5 indicates that client’s consultants and contractors were mostly unanimous in their scoring of the risk factors impacting the delivery of road projects(p<0.05). the exceptions are three risk factors with evidence of a statistically significant difference of opinion (p<0.05). these three risk factors are ‘poor relationship with the community’, ‘defective designs, error and rework’ as well as ‘adverse ground conditions and they ranked 3rd, 13th and 32nd respectively in the overall mean score. table 5: impact of identified risk factors on road projects risk factors overall mean score overall rank client’s consultant mean rank contractors' organisations mean rank t-statistic p-values change in government 3.61 1 3.53 2 3.53 2 1.423 .235 lack of attention to contract requirements 3.60 2 3.53 2 3.53 2 1.280 .260 poor relationship with the community 3.58 3 3.42 12 3.42 12 4.364 .039* strong political interference 3.55 4 3.50 4 3.50 4 .456 .501 contractors cash flow problem 3.53 5 3.55 1 3.55 1 .042 .838 delay in payment by the clients 3.52 6 3.44 9 3.44 9 1.416 .237 inflation/interest rate fluctuations 3.50 7 3.44 9 3.44 9 .813 .369 unforeseen adverse ground condition 3.50 7 3.48 5 3.48 5 .078 .780 projects documents not issued on time 3.50 7 3.44 9 3.44 9 .697 .406 public oppositions to projects 3.49 10 3.38 17 3.38 17 2.129 .147 failure of major construction equipment 3.48 11 3.48 5 3.48 5 .008 .929 lack of attention to the market condition 3.44 12 3.42 12 3.42 12 .061 .805 defective design, error and rework 3.43 13 3.20 31 3.20 31 13.177 .000* f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 31 inadequate specifications 3.43 13 3.39 14 3.39 14 .317 .575 lack of legal, regulatory framework 3.43 13 3.45 7 3.45 7 .073 .788 government officials demanding bribe/unjust reward 3.42 16 3.36 19 3.36 19 .679 .412 shortage of equipment 3.41 17 3.26 25 3.26 25 3.795 .054 non-availability of spare parts for construction plants and equipment 3.39 18 3.39 14 3.39 14 .005 .946 lack of communication between central office and site office 3.37 19 3.30 22 3.30 22 .786 .377 subcontractors incompetence 3.36 20 3.32 21 3.32 21 .409 .524 foreign exchange rate fluctuation 3.35 21 3.23 28 3.23 28 2.541 .114 shortage of skilled labourers 3.35 21 3.29 24 3.29 24 .948 .332 change in scope of work 3.35 21 3.39 14 3.39 14 .282 .596 lack of commitment between parties 3.35 21 3.24 27 3.24 27 1.755 .188 delay in receiving projects permit and approval 3.33 25 3.33 25 3.21 29 2.235 .138 inclement weather 3.33 25 3.33 25 3.45 7 2.955 .088 delay in availability of design details 3.30 27 3.30 27 3.18 33 2.853 .094 change in design 3.30 27 3.30 27 3.33 20 .217 .643 shortage of major road construction materials 3.29 29 3.29 29 3.21 29 1.058 .306 shortage of experts in road construction 3.29 29 3.29 29 3.26 25 .229 .633 high maintenance cost 3.29 29 3.29 29 3.30 22 .024 .878 adverse ground condition 3.22 32 3.22 32 3.38 17 4.995 .027* flood 3.21 33 3.21 33 3.20 31 .038 .845 p-value is significant at 0.05 using factor analysis, a further analysis was done to reduce the 33 risk variables to smaller groups of factors impacting the delivery of road projects. the varimax rotation method in the principal component analysis was employed. the kmo obtained from the analysis was 0.734, and it falls into the range of ‘good’. this confirms the appropriateness of the use of factor analysis for the data set. similarly, bartlett’s test is highly significant (p = 0.000) and further confirms that factor analysis is appropriate. the four impact factors generated accounted for 46.16% of the variance explained (see table 6). tables 6 and table 7 show the total variance explained by the factors and the rotated component matrix for the impacts of risk respectively table 6: total variance explained for impact of risk factors component initial eigenvalues extraction sums of squared loadings rotation sums of squared loadings total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % 1 6.926 20.988 20.988 6.926 20.988 20.988 4.628 14.023 14.023 2 3.670 11.122 32.110 3.670 11.122 32.110 3.952 11.975 25.998 3 2.384 7.225 39.335 2.384 7.225 39.335 3.795 11.499 37.498 4 2.253 6.828 46.163 2.253 6.828 46.163 2.860 8.666 46.163 5 1.907 5.780 51.943 6 1.649 4.998 56.941 7 1.560 4.728 61.670 8 1.388 4.207 65.877 9 1.308 3.963 69.839 10 1.079 3.270 73.109 11 .958 2.904 76.013 12 .778 2.357 78.371 13 .685 2.077 80.448 14 .664 2.011 82.458 15 .560 1.696 84.154 16 .516 1.563 85.717 17 .482 1.462 87.179 32 f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 18 .458 1.387 88.566 19 .424 1.284 89.851 20 .396 1.201 91.051 21 .344 1.041 92.093 22 .325 .985 93.078 23 .322 .975 94.052 24 .287 .870 94.922 25 .251 .762 95.684 26 .237 .718 96.402 27 .230 .696 97.098 28 .211 .638 97.736 29 .178 .540 98.275 30 .161 .488 98.763 31 .149 .450 99.214 32 .135 .408 99.621 33 .125 .379 100.000 extraction method: principal component analysis table 7: rotated component matrix for impact of risk factors component 1 2 3 4 subcontractors incompetence .713 shortage of experts in road construction .689 delay in availability of design details .673 shortage of skilled labourers .661 high maintenance cost .619 lack of commitment between parties .585 defective design, error and rework .564 lack of attention to contract requirements .544 change in scope of work .542 change in design .524 non-availability of spare parts for construction plants and equipment shortage of equipment .701 poor relationship with community .670 public oppositions to projects .643 shortage of major road construction materials .643 adverse ground condition .638 inclement weather .622 flood .548 change in government failure of major construction equipment .726 delay in payment by the clients .690 contractors cash flow problem .674 lack of legal regulatory framework .574 delay in receiving projects permit and approval .559 unforeseen adverse ground condition .545 inadequate specifications lack of communication between central office and site office lack of attention to market condition government officials demanding bribe/unjust reward .788 foreign exchange rate fluctuation .727 strong political interference .679 projects documents not issued on time .528 inflation/interest rate fluctuations .510 note extraction method: principal component analysis. rotation method: varimax with kaiser normalization. rotation converged in 4 iterations. the four principal factors extracted are interpreted as follows (see table 7 for factor loadings): factor 1: project complexity risk; factor 2: logistic, social and environmental risk; factor 3: political and financial risks; factor 4: socio-economic risks. factor 1: project complexity risk in all, nine risk variables loaded into factor 1: project complexity risk. the risk variables are subcontractors’ incompetence, shortage of experts in road construction, f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 33 delay in availability of design details, shortage of skilled labourers, high maintenance cost, lack of commitment between parties, defective design, error and rework, lack of attention to contract requirements, change in scope of work and change in design. these nine components have a loading: 0.713, 0.689, 0.673, 0.661, 0.619. 0.585, 0.564, 0.544, 0.542 and 0.524 respectively. factor 2: logistic, social and environmental risk in all, seven risk variables loaded into factor 2: logistic, social and environmental risk. these risk variables are a shortage of equipment, poor relationship with the community, public oppositions to projects, shortage of major road construction materials, adverse ground condition, inclement weather and flood. these seven components have factor loadings of 0.701, 0.670, 0.643, 0.619, 0.638, 0.622, and 0.548 respectively. factor 3: political and financial risks a total of 6 risk variables loaded into factor 3: political and financial risk. these comprise of failure of major construction equipment, delay in payment by the clients, contractor’s cash flow problem, lack of legal, regulatory framework, delay in receiving projects permit and approval and unforeseen adverse ground condition. these six components have factor loadings of 0.726, 0.690, 0.674, 0.574, 0.559, and 0.545 respectively. factor 4: risks relating to socio-economic issues a total of 5 risk variables loaded into factor 4: risks relating to socio-economic issues. the risk variables are government officials demanding bribe/unjust reward, foreign exchange rate fluctuation, strong political interference, projects documents not issued on time and, inflation/interest rate fluctuations. these five components have factor loadings of 0.788, 0.727, 0.679, 0.528 and 0.510 respectively. 5. discussion of findings the top-ranking risk factors, regarding the extent of occurrence of risk factors (table 2) relate to project scope, design issues and ground condition. these are usually areas of considerable uncertainty and pose great concerns to construction professionals in the delivery of road projects. contractors’ organisation scored these risk factors higher than the client’s consultants because being more directly involved in project execution; they are constantly confronted with the issues. generally, the result (table 2) showed that client’s consultants and contractors’ organisations agreed on their scoring of the degree of risk occurrence in the delivery of road projects. there is a statistically significant difference in the ratings of the two groups of respondents on only four out of thirty-three factors. on the impact of the risk factors, this study revealed that political as well as economic issues impact much more on the delivery of road projects in nigeria while issues relating to scope changes and design issues tend to occur more. surprisingly, the order of impact differs from the order of extent of risk occurrence. for instance, the impact of ‘contractors cash flow problem’, ‘delay in payment by the clients’, and ‘inflation/interest rate fluctuations’ are high (table 5) but their probability of occurrence was negligible. these risk factors could be the result of bureaucracy involved in the processing of certificates, invoices and valuations. buertey et al. (2012a) and oyewobi et al. (2011) conducted studies in ghana and nigeria respectively on risks impacts on construction projects and confirms that this category of risk factors has the greatest impact on construction. the differing order of impact and occurrence underscores the theory of two-dimensional nature of the risk (williams, 1996). this circumstance was also described in a study on risk factors impacting construction cash flow forecast by odeyinka et al. (2008). contractors’ organisations and client’s consultants ranked high the impact of ‘contractors cashflow problem’ a financial risk (table 5), this indicates that irrespective of the value of contracts, the impact of financial risks on road project is high. buertey et al. (2013) submitted that the effect of financial risks on projects cannot be overemphasized, as they have the high propensity to affect the cash flow of projects which can result in a delay. generally, it can be argued that client's consultant and contractors' organisations were largely unanimous on their ratings of risk impacts and their rating of the extent of occurrence of risks on road projects. however, few factors were also rated far apart by the two groups of respondents. for instance, non-availability of spare parts for construction plant and equipment ranked 23rd and 5th under the client's consultants, and contractors' organisations scoring respectively but ranked 11th overall (table 2). it can be said that contractors’ organisation scored these risk factors higher than the consultants because they are more aware of the non-availability of spare parts for construction plant and equipment. the consolidation of the 33 risk factors using factor analysis revealed the occurrence of social, economic, legal, political and environmental risks among others, while project complexity, logistic, political and socio-economic risks best describes the substantial risks impacting road projects. it is essential that proactive arrangements be made to manage the risks when they are occurring. 6. conclusions several attempts have been made by various tiers of government responsible for road construction in nigeria, but evidence abounds regarding project abandonment, low quality or delayed delivery, and excessively high construction cost. based on the findings from this study, three main conclusions are offered. first, 33 risk variables were identified as occurring in the delivery of road projects in osun state, nigeria and they variously impact the delivery of road projects. the risk factors could be reduced to nine component factors, namely; socioeconomic risk, socio-political risk, project regulation and administration risk, shortage of skilled and committed manpower risk, project complexity risk, design risk, financial risk, environmental risk, and legal and economic risk. out of all these factors, the risk factors with the highest level of occurrence related to project scope changes, design issues and the problem with site conditions. this implies that the construction contractors and designers need to be aware of these risk factors as a whole and the most important ones to focus on so they can be proactive in managing them. 34 f. leo-olagbaye and h. odeyinka/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 24-35 second, the 33 identified risk factors impacting the delivery of roadworks in osun state, nigeria could be reduced to four principal factors, namely: project complexity risk, logistic, social and environmental risk, political and financial risks, and socio-economic risks. out of all these factors, the risk variables with the highest level of impact relate to political and economic issues. this implies that the construction contractors and consultants need to have an awareness of the risk factors impacting road projects and pay particular attention to those with high impacts for effective management. third, the fact that the set of risk factors with a high level of occurrence is different from the set of risk factors with a high level of impact underscores the purpose of exploring the two-dimensional nature of risk in risk analysis and management. 6.1 recommendation based on the above conclusions, the following recommendation is proposed; the construction contractors and clients consultants should pay close attention to the identified top-ranking risk factors with high extent of occurrence and impact. a devise pro-active approach is needed to manage them. 6.2 suggestions for further research the study was limited to road projects. the study area was also restricted to osun state of south western nigeria. the study can be further extended to other parts of the country as well as to building projects. also, there is a need for the use of many more road projects in developing risk impact models and exploring the use of other modeling techniques like artificial intelligence to achieve more reliable results. references akintoye, a. and macleod, m. 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(2012) evaluating the impact of risk on contractor‘s tender figure in public buildings projects in northern nigeria. journal of engineering, project, and production management, 2(1), 2-13. project management institute, (pmi) (2016) a guide to project management body of knowledge (pmbok®guide). newton square, pa: project management institute. smith, n. (1999). managing risk in construction projects, smith, n.j., merna, t. and jobling, p.(eds). oxford: blackwell science ltd. udeh, s. n. and onwuka i. o. (2015) transforming road infrastructure in nigeria – revisiting the publicprivate partnership option. international journal of development research. vol. 5 (7), 5111-5120. williams, t.m. (1996), ‘‘the two-dimensionality of project risk’’, int. j. project management, 14 (3), 185-6. windapo, a.o., omeife, c. and wahab, l.a (2010) stakeholders perception of key risks in oil and gas construction projects, paper presented at the 40th annual conference and general meeting of the nigerian institute of building (niob), july 7-11, asaba, delta state zou, p., zhang, g. & wang, j-y., (2007) understanding the key risks in construction projects in china. international journal of project management. 25,. 601– 614 jcbm (2020) 4(2).1-10. influence of subcontracting processes on wages and workloads in the building construction industry in nigeria a. a. akinwale 1 and o. a. olusanya 2 1 & 2 department of employment relations and human resource management, school of management sciences, university of lagos, nigeria received 1 july 2019; received in revised form 3 october 2019 and 4 march 2020; accepted 26 march 2020. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2.788 abstract there is a paucity of information on the experience of subcontracted work despite the widespread use of subcontracting in the building construction industry. this study examined the influence of subcontracting processes on wages and workloads in the building construction industry in nigeria. data collection for the study was based on a cross-sectional research design with a survey research strategy, including a structured questionnaire and some key informant interviews. a sample of 908 subcontracted workers was randomly selected from 388 building construction sites in lagos state, nigeria. data obtained from the structured questionnaire were subjected to descriptive statistics and regression analysis, while an ethnographic technique was used to analyze the data from the interviews. the regression results (β = –0.046; p < 0.05) showed that to some extent subcontracting processes significantly influenced workers’ participation in wage determination; and that the regression results (β = –0.040; p < 0.05) revealed that to some extent subcontracting processes significantly influenced workers’ participation in the determination of workloads in the building construction industry in nigeria. wages and workloads are inappropriate when the degree of influence of the subcontracting process on workers' participation in the determination of wages and workloads in the building construction industry is considered. these findings imply that working in a subcontracting system could promote the alienation of subcontracted workers from the determination of wages and workloads, thereby showing the need for adequate protection for the affected workers. therefore, the subcontracted workers in lagos state should strengthen their associations to achieve justice and decent work in the building construction industry. keywords: building construction; subcontracted workers; wages; workload. 1. introduction subcontracting systems have gathered momentum in different parts of the world since the 19th century. the available record shows that about 350 million people are directly involved in subcontracting systems across the world, and the number is growing at a fast rate in the cities (biswas, bhattacharya & bhattacharya, 2017:669). subcontracting was characterized by excess workload and minimum wages for the subcontractors in sweatshops (goldstein, linder, norton & ruckelshaus, 1999: 1057 power, 2016:343; robertson, di, brown & dehejia, 2016:20). subcontracting is entrenched in the building construction industry where the subcontractors supply the necessary skills and workers for construction work. 2 corresponding author. email address: oaolusanya@unilag.edu.ng this is because the fragmented and specialized nature of construction work necessitates the engagement of different skills required at different times in the construction process (ilo, 2001:15). thus, the subcontracting system and subcontractors have an important place in the construction industry (enshassi, choudhry, mayer & shoman, 2008:1520; yoke-lian, hassim, muniandy & teik-hua, 2012:442). moreover, the highly segmented subcontracting structure in the construction industry serves as a buffer against risk, helps to reduce operating costs, secure competitive advantage and position for maximum profit (antunes & gonzalez, 2015:218; kasapoğlu, 2018:49). this is so because subcontractors are often required to bid for jobs, and the contracting firm tends to select subcontractors with the lowest cost and acceptable quality. university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2. mailto:vonifade@unilag.edu.ng 2 a. a. akinwale & o. a. olusanya/journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).1-10 in a subcontracting system, the main goal of workers is to gain access to standard employment and adequate income. thus, the wage is at the centre of an employment relationship involving subcontractors and workers. wage could also be linked to job satisfaction (luthans, 2011:142; aiyetan & olotuah, 2006; bamidele, 2011:241). therefore, issues relating to wages are among the leading causes of conflict in the construction industry in nigeria (mitkusa & mitkusa, 2014:784; osabuohien & ogunrinola, 2007:5,18). this assertion is indicative of the importance of wages in any employment relationship. the regulation of wages and other conditions of work in the nigerian building construction industry is made by the national joint industrial council (njic) whose membership comprises some employers' associations and trade unions (ofili, 2004:41). the employers’ association and trade unions in the njic include the federation of construction industries (foci) and the nigerian union of civil engineering construction, furniture and wood workers (nucecfww). however, many workers in the building construction industry have been exposed to inadequate income. fagbenle, ogunde and owolabi (2011:251) found that the nigerian construction industry is plagued by unfair wages, lack of motivation, and poor communication. these conditions could affect the organizational commitment and quality of jobs, thereby culminating in a threat to the security of lives and properties in the building construction projects. indeed, a poorly paid labourer may constitute a threat to quality assurance in the building construction project. this article examines the influence of subcontracting systems on wages and workloads in the building construction industry in lagos state, nigeria. hence, the following research questions are put forward: what is the extent of workers’ participation in the determination of workload for the subcontracted workers in the building construction projects in lagos state, nigeria? how are wages determined for the subcontracted workers in the building construction projects in the study area? the subject matter of the present article is presented in different sections starting from the abstract and introduction. the next section deals with a review of relevant studies on the determination of wages and workloads in the subcontracting systems. this is followed by methodology, results and discussion of findings. the conclusions and recommendations are presented in the final section. 2. literature review 2.1 determination of wages and workloads in the context of subcontracting accumulated evidence in the literature shows that, among others, the issues of wages and workloads have become historically relevant in the explanation of the influence of subcontracting systems in different parts of the world. subcontracting is an attractive choice for organizations seeking lower factor costs such as wages (commission of the european communities, 2009:32). besides, subcontracting in building construction is a way in which organizations achieve reduced labour cost and gain collective efficiency through cooperation in the areas of technology, production and marketing (kongmanila & takahashi, 2010:99). nonetheless, brown, deardorff and stern (2004:283) stress the importance of providing workers with adequate wages to meet their basic needs. grimshaw (2013:10) also argued that the strenuous conditions that characterize construction work make payment of wages above the statutory minimum an imperative. bosmans, hardonk, de-cuyper, louckx, and vanroelen (2016:13) revealed that with subcontracting, it might be difficult to determine the real employer of workers. nonetheless, thakurta (1972:584) proposed that the construction industry should possibly be sheltered through appropriate government policies such as needbased minimum wage, thereby providing some measure of stability in employment and safeguard the interest of workers. stephenson (2016:1) based on experience in the london building construction industry, observed that structural changes, including the emergence of building contractors, profoundly affected the wages paid to construction workers in london. similarly, wages in the construction industry are found to be extremely low in the united republic of tanzania (ilo, 2005). it has been argued that reduction of wages is one of the areas in which contractors cushion the effect of underpricing to win bids; besides, labour subcontracting systems have facilitated low and delayed wages or outright non-payment of wages (juravich, 2015:2; shamir, 2016:233; wagner, 2015:34; yun, 2010:4). this point was reiterated in kongmanila and takahashi (2009:275). similarly, bernhardt, boushey, dresser and tilly (2008:6) described subcontracting as an employer ‘gloves-off’ practice. the ‘gloves-off’ practice is akin to the deliberate evasion of laws established to protect workers. furthermore, a study in massachusetts, usa showed that the misclassification of workers as subcontractors in the residential building construction industry has not only led to increased subcontracting but a reduction in wages (juravich, ablavsky & williams, 2015:4). furthermore, bernhardt et al. (2008:13) suggested that subcontracting is a means to utilize workers temporarily, thereby increasing numerical flexibility and reducing wages through erosion of standard workplace practices. thus, workers in subcontracting scenarios are not subject to the same working conditions as workers in permanent scenarios. in a typical building construction project, the subcontractors usually negotiate the wages and workloads on behalf of subcontracted workers, who may also negotiate with subcontractors. in this case, subcontractors serve as intermediaries between the owners of building projects or contractors and subcontracted workers in the building construction industry. this arrangement gives subcontractors power to undercut the wages or increase the workloads of subcontracted workers for more profits. this is consistent with silver’s (1986: 240) observation that the capitalist systems of production shape work relations in the construction industry. workers’ abilities or inabilities to control working conditions in the building construction industry in nigeria may be considered in this regard. a. a. akinwale & o. a. olusanya/journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).1-10 3 2.2 workers’ participation in the determination of wages a recent report on the outlook of the construction industry in nigeria shows the relevance of subcontracting and other important practices and procedures that are taken into consideration from the beginning to the end of a construction project, including the bargaining power of different stakeholders such as contractors, buyers, and suppliers (market publishers, 2019:1). however, close observation of the determination of wages in the building construction industry in nigeria shows that many workers have been alienated from the process (mabogunje, 2016:11; silver, 1986:240). nevertheless, wage determination in the nigerian building construction industry is also based largely on the collective agreement for workers in the formal sector. wages, as expressed in the collective agreements, are a function of the prevailing country minimum wage. minimum wage plays a significant role in the determination of workers' pay and acts as the bargaining strength of workers (gavrel, 2015:3). thus, in studies covering formal and informal workers in latin america, the caribbean, india, argentina, and south africa; khamis (2013:3) and kristensen and cunningham (2006:1) found that wages increase as minimum wage increases, particularly in countries where the minimum wage is low relative to the average wage. similarly, the effect of the minimum wage is more pronounced in the informal economy, whereas employment will reduce in the high-skill formal sector. furthermore, much like the nigeria building construction industry, which has a large pool of informal labour, khamis (2013) found that an upward review in the minimum wage led to a substantial increase in informal wage distribution in argentina. the determination of pay in labour contracts are commonly based on performance (abraham, alvarezparray & forstnerz, 2017:1). wages are also determined based on circumstances; for instance, wages are often higher for night shifts and other demanding work conditions in the czech republic (arrigo & casale, 2010:61). in austria, ‘informal work agreement’ is a common means of determining wages (arrigo & casale, 2010:37). this is also common in the nigerian building construction industry, and it is deemed to be binding on the parties. conversely, workers who participate in the determination of their wages are not likely to contribute their best on the job. franke, gurtoviy and mertins (2014:20) argue that this is a result of negative reciprocity. nevertheless, the participation of workers in the determination of wages as in other conditions of work occurs at the industry level in australia (arrigo & casale, 2010:33). similarly, this cooperative approach to wage negotiation is common in the australian and italian building construction industry (arrigo & casale, 2010: 118). furthermore, the official procedures for the determination of wages in nigeria have been based on minimum wage legislation and the establishment of wage commissions (fapohunda, atiku & lawal, 2012:21). however, market forces largely influence the determination of wages in the private sector of the nigerian economy. the nigerian labour act (1990:3) defines wages as remuneration or earnings expressed in terms of money and fixed by mutual agreement or by law. employers pay wages to a worker for work done or to be done or for services rendered or to be rendered based on a contract. this shows the legality of different procedures, such as collective bargaining and legislation for the determination of wages in nigeria. agburu (2012:258) suggested that a fair and equitable wage is critical in an economy like nigeria; as such, wages are decisive, particularly from the standpoint of family members and dependents of workers. shin and mcgrath-champ (2009:3) observed that subcontracting systems in the australian construction industry had placed workers in a weakened bargaining position. they also linked the growth of informal employment to subcontracting systems. this is likely to hurt collective bargaining in the informal sector. this is consistent with a scholarly description showing that workers in the building construction industry are susceptible to several types of fatal occupational health hazards daily (biswas, bhattacharya, & bhattacharya, 2017:671). also, workers in the building construction industry are usually recruited from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, and this situation could adversely affect their bargaining power in the negotiation for higher wages or reduction of workloads. 2.3 determination of wages and workloads the popularity of the doctrine of payment-by-results puts pressure on workers in subcontract systems to emphasize the volume of work done, as a determinant of the adequacy of remuneration. the determination of wages based on work done has been strengthened by the widespread use of managerial prerogative in the determination of wages (brown, marginson & walsh, 2003:3; marsden, belfield & benhamou, 2007:3). batt, nohara and kwon, (2010:18) in a survey of call centre establishments in eight countries found that the use of performance-based pay was significantly positively related to wage. a close association between workloads and wages can be observed in this regard. however, ameh and osegbo (2011:62) found in a survey that among other factors, wages have the least effect on labour productivity on construction sites. this assertion is contradicted by the experience in henry ford's automobile factories in 1913, where a wage increase was the strategy for employee retention following high labour turnover. also, aniekwu and ozochi (2010:93) observed that wages and productivity increased with experience in the initial stages of many jobs. the workload is a function of changes in technology; it is diversified and susceptible to fluctuations in the building construction industry (commission of the european communities, 2009:90; chau & walker, 1994:374; ilo, 2016:102). excess workload could be a result of involvement in multiple projects simultaneously (hidzir, jaafar & dahalan, 2015:58). consequently, subcontractors of various capacities are engaged the building construction process and the role they assume or their workload on each project is a function of their capacity and size of the project (commission of the european communities, 2009:18). 4 a. a. akinwale & o. a. olusanya/journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).1-10 3. research methodology the data collection for the present article was based on cross-sectional research design with a survey research strategy. the cross-sectional research design was adopted because of its suitability for a survey of the study population in a specific period (levin, 2006:24). also, a survey research strategy, an effective method employed in social sciences was adopted in data collection from a representative sample, which is useful in drawing inference from the study population (bolarinwa, 2015:196; lynn, erens & sturgis, 2012:2; schell, 1992:2; mathiyazhagan & nandan, 2010:34). the unit of analysis comprised informal workers and subcontractors on building construction projects in lagos state, nigeria. this group comprises different skilled and semi-skilled persons recruited from various vocational workshops or conspicuous locations, including blocklayers, carpenters, electricians, iron-benders, labourers, machine operators, painters, plasterers, plumbers, tilers, and welders. the primary data were collected via a structured questionnaire and some key informant interviews among informal building construction workers and subcontractors in lagos state, nigeria. the secondary data were deduced from the literature, including journals, textbooks, and other relevant documents. the data from the structured questionnaire were analyzed via descriptive and inferential statistics, using the statistical package for service solution (spss), while the interview data were analyzed using an ethnographic technique. table 1: number of building plan approvals in lagos state (2007-2013) s/n districts number of building plan approvals from 2007 to 2013 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 total 1. agbado/ipaja 36 8 19 30 37 51 42 223 2. agege 117 16 31 88 173 160 130 715 3. alimosho 148 14 41 72 74 75 83 507 4. amuwo-odofin 187 32 112 137 133 112 70 783 5. apapa 25 6 6 14 13 9 16 89 6. badagry 16 4 2 8 5 0 0 35 7. eko 17 4 9 17 25 22 7 101 8. epe 120 4 2 5 1 4 2 138 9. eti-osa 705 384 403 554 394 407 395 3242 10. ibeju-lekki 8 1 5 4 7 25 38 88 11. ikeja 139 61 105 122 120 110 213 870 12. ikoyi/victoria island 350 75 95 147 166 163 135 1131 13. ikorodu 846 142 31 55 278 164 149 1665 14. kosofe 374 167 302 293 180 184 142 1642 15. mushin 55 15 21 16 25 33 33 198 16. oshodi-isolo 316 42 85 108 146 85 78 860 17. ojo 58 4 15 17 31 21 22 168 18. somolu 97 15 38 39 28 52 37 306 19. surulere 46 28 39 40 50 47 35 285 20. yaba 62 35 60 85 63 38 42 385 total 3722 1057 1421 1851 1949 1762 1669 13431 from a list of 13,431 building plan approvals in lagos state between the years of 2007 to 2013, a sample of 388 building construction sites was selected through the use of yamane’s (1967) formula: 𝑛 = 𝑁 1+𝑁𝑒2 (1) where: n = sample size n = population e = sampling error table 2: selection of sample size from the study population administrative division of lagos state, nigeria no. of construction sites estimates of subcontracted workers sample size ikeja 152 3,090 309 lagos 152 2,640 264 badagry 29 1,160 116 ikorodu 48 1,910 191 epe 7 280 28 total 388 9,080 908 a structured questionnaire with some closed-end and open-end questions was utilized for data collection from 908 respondents. at the same time, key informant interviews were conducted among 50 subcontractors, who were randomly selected on sites to uncover their knowledge and experience on the determination of wages and workloads. the probability sampling technique was adopted to give each unit of the study population equal chance of being selected (cohen, manion & morrison, 2007:110; kelley, clark, brown, & sitzia, 2003:264; panneerselvam, 2009:192). the questionnaire was subjected to validity and reliability tests. some researchers have shown that the validity of a research instrument depends on the operational definition of concepts and its ability to measure what it intends to measure (bolarinwa, 2015:196; mohajan, 2017:18). reliability is the extent of consistency in the use of the research instrument from observation to observation (bolarinwa, 2015:195; mathiyazhagan & nandan, 2010:41). consequent upon the establishment of validity, the questionnaire was a. a. akinwale & o. a. olusanya/journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).1-10 5 pretested for reliability through a randomly selected pilot sample. the observations during the pilot survey necessitated the revision of the research instrument in simple english to communicate clearly to the workers. the revision of the research instrument aligned with the fact that the nigerian government's policy on the universal basic education was designed to ensure minimum comprehension of the english language among nigerians (etuk, ering & ajake, 2012:179). the cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of the revised research instrument was 0.722 compared to the initial coefficient of 0.714. the validity and reliability of the search instrument suggest that the findings of this study may be replicated under the same conditions (boermans & kattenberg, 2011:2; wells & wollack, 2003:2). 4. results 4.1 demographic characteristics of the building construction workers table 3: demographic characteristics of building construction workers demographic characteristics frequency percentage sex: male 857 94.4 female 51 5.6 highest level of education: primary school 241 26.5 secondary school 548 60.4 technical college 72 7.9 none (illiterates) 47 5.2 occupation in construction site: carpentry 108 11.9 bricklaying 260 28.6 iron bending 78 8.6 aluminium works 61 6.7 pop 68 7.5 plumbing 49 5.4 electrician 46 5.1 machine operator 30 3.3 labourers 208 22.9 religion: christianity 554 61 islam 354 39 marital status: single 353 38.9 married 533 58.7 divorced/ separated/ widowed 22 2.4 state of origin: north-central 103 11.3 north-east 2 0.2 north-west 8 0.9 south-east 88 9.7 south-south 89 9.8 south-west 591 65.1 foreign nationals 27 3 table 3 presents the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the respondents on building construction sites in lagos state, nigeria. a majority of the respondents were male (94.4 percent) and had secondary school education (60.4 percent), while the bricklayers were 28.6 percent. similarly, machine operators had the least number of respondents (3.3 percent). the result also shows that there were more christians (61.0 percent) among the respondents than moslems (39.0 percent). additionally, over half of the respondents were married (58.7 percent). respondents from lagos, osun, oyo, ogun, ekiti and ondo states in nigeria predominate (65.1 percent). indigenes of benue, kogi, kwara, nassarawa, niger and plateau constitute 11.3 percent while those from edo, delta, rivers, cross-river, akwa-ibom and bayelsa add up to 9.8 percent. respondents from abia, anambra, imo, enugu and ebonyi follow closely with 9.7 percent. workers from adamawa, bauchi, borno, gombe, taraba and yobe constituted 0.2 percent while those from jigawa, kaduna, kano, katsina, kebbi, sokoto and zamfara were 3.0 percent. respondents from neighbouring countries such as benin republic, cotonou, ghana and togo were a little short of one percent (0.9 percent). the data presented in table 4 show that half of the respondents earned an average of n3,500 per day. similarly, their average income per month was n78,000, with 50 percent earning up to n80,000. also, 50 percent of the workers were aged 30 years and had an average of three dependants. table 4: socioeconomic characteristics of building construction workers socioeconomic characteristics mean median income per day (n) 3497.03 3500 income per month (n) 77838.58 80000 age (years) 31.07 30 number of dependants 3 3 table 5 depicts the actors in the subcontracting systems in the building construction industry. it displays the identity of the hirer, distinction between hirer and employer, source of wage as well as responsibility for quality control and timely delivery of work on site. the findings in table 5 indicate that the subcontractor hired 44.6 percent of the respondents, while the contractor hired 35.9 percent. also, 14.9 percent of the respondents were hired directly by the owner of the building, although 'other' hired a small proportion (4.6 percent). the majority of the respondents (89.1 percent) affirmed that their hirer was their employer, while 10.9 percent affirmed that the individual that hired them was not their employer. similarly, the responsibility for quality control was attributed to the subcontractor, as noted by 40.0 percent of the respondents. also, 34.9 percent attributed quality control to the contractor, while 14.1 percent attributed it to the owner. however, 11.0 percent affirmed that quality control was done by neither the subcontractor, the contractor, nor the owner. equally, 38.2 percent credited the responsibility for timely delivery of work in the 6 a. a. akinwale & o. a. olusanya/journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).1-10 building construction sites to the subcontractor; 34.8 percent to the contractor; 15.1 percent to the owner and 11.9 percent credited this responsibility to some other individuals. also, 46.5 percent got their wage from the subcontractors; 35.2 percent from the contractors; 14.1 percent from the owners and 4.2 percent got their wage from some other individuals, such as administrative officers or accountants working in the building construction projects. table 5: subcontracting process in the building construction industry subcontracting process frequency percentage hirer: subcontractor 405 44.6 contractor 326 35.9 owner 135 14.9 other 42 4.6 ever recognized the hirer as employer: yes 809 89.1 no 99 10.9 responsibility for quality control: subcontractor 363 40 contractor 317 34.9 owner 128 14.1 other 100 11 responsibility for timely delivery of work: subcontractor 347 38.2 contractor 316 34.8 owner 137 15.1 other 108 11.9 disbursement of wage: subcontractor 422 46.5 contractor 320 35.2 owner 128 14.1 other 38 4.2 table 6 reveals that about two-thirds of respondents (65.1 percent) confirmed that they were involved in the determination of their wage. however, 64.0 percent of the respondents noted that the workload was not the basis of wage determination. besides, only 7.0 percent admitted to holding alternative jobs concurrently (multiple-jobholding); whereas, 93.0 percent of the workers responded in the negative to multiple-job-holding. table 6: determination of wages and workload in the building construction industry determination of wages and workload frequency percentage workers’ participation in the determination of wage: yes 591 65.1 no 317 34.9 workers’ view of workload as yardstick for wages: yes 327 36 no 581 64 workers’ tendency to hold alternative jobs: yes 64 7 no 844 93 4.2 test of hypotheses the results and interpretation of the hypotheses are presented in this section. the p-value of less than 0.05 shows that the alternative hypothesis is statistically significant and is to be accepted. 4.3.1 hypothesis one in order to test the hypothesis, which states that the subcontracting process does not significantly affect workers’ participation in the determination of wage in the building construction industry, regression analysis was carried out. the results (β = –0.046; p < 0.05) showed that to some extent subcontracting processes significantly influenced workers’ participation in wage determination in the building construction industry in nigeria. table 7: regression of the influence of subcontracting processes on workers’ participation in the determination of wages in building construction industry in nigeria regression model unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients t sig. b std. error beta 1 (constant) 1.728 0.02 84.747 0 subcontracting processes -0.046 0.01 -0.155 -4.726 0 a. dependent variable: workers’ participation in wage determination 4.3.1 hypothesis two in order to test the hypothesis, which states that the subcontracting process does not significantly influence workers' participation in the determination of workload in the building construction industry, regression analysis was carried out. the results (β = –0.040; p < 0.05) showed that to some extent subcontracting processes significantly influenced workers’ participation in the determination of workloads in the building construction industry in nigeria. table 8: regression of the influence of subcontracting processes on workers’ participation in the determination of workloads in building construction industry in nigeria regression model unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients t sig. b std. error beta 1 (constant) 1.768 0.026 68.58 0 subcontracting processes -0.04 0.012 -0.107 -3.236 0.001 a. dependent variable: workers’ participation in the determination of workloads data from interviews on workers’ participation in the determination of wages and workloads indicates that wage determination varied across crafts in the building construction industry, as shown in the following: during years of training in aluminium work, you are allowed to follow your master/boss to sit, work and earn; but the earning is not equivalent to the work as he (master/boss) determines your earnings and takes the surplus (survey, lagos, aluminium worker, male). a. a. akinwale & o. a. olusanya/journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).1-10 7 carpentry work cannot be measured by the amount of work per day, but depends on the original pay and work agreement (survey, epe, carpenter, male). the subcontractors most times cheat the painters they employ; as they collect a lot of money for the contract and then pay us a meagre sum of n2500; whereas the pay per day for a painter is n4000 in some places. however, because of unemployment, we have to manage to collect whatever they give us (survey, ikeja, painter, male). these narratives confirm that the determination of wages for apprentices in the building construction industry was based on a small proportion of earnings after the master has taken a considerable amount. hence, these apprentices were made to do much more work than the master paid for. at the same time, carpenters' wages were based on the amount negotiated for a particular job. subcontractors who paid less sometimes cheated the painters, despite acceptable fixed rate for the job done per day and some of the workers took the meagre wage to avoid being unemployed. 5. discussion the gender differentials reveal that building construction is a male-dominated industry. the proportion of bricklayers is indicative of the huge requirement for bricklayers throughout the building construction process compared to machine operators. thus, the more a particular craft is required at different stages in building construction, the more the number of workers on site. moreover, the high proportion of married individuals in the building construction industry reveals that most of the workers had responsibilities requiring that they continue to work to earn a living. on the premise that in this study, which was, conducted in lagos state, where the majority of respondents were from the southwest geopolitical zone of nigeria, the results on state of origin profile of respondents suggests that most building construction workers stayed and worked around or in their states of origin. the wage is relatively low, given that they lack access to other benefits or protection against hazards on the job. grimshaw (2013:10) explains that wages in the construction industry must be above the statutory minimum because of the strenuous nature of construction work. this average age provides evidence for a large number of youth workers in the building construction industry in nigeria. the findings also suggest that subcontracting systems exist in the building construction industry in nigeria, as suggested by fagbenle, makinde and oluwunmi (201l:254). however, wells (2006:10) had cautioned against subcontracting chiefly because the drive at minimization of labour costs and overheads could have an adverse influence on workers' welfare. workers' hired by 'other' could be either site engineers or site supervisors. a hirer, in this instance, is distinct from an employer in that the hirer is usually the individual whom the worker has the first contact with and from whom the worker gets the offer of a job. whereas the employer controls and directs the worker in line with oral, written or implied work contract and is obligated to pay wages for work done. the split between those hired by the subcontractor and the contractor revealed multi-layered subcontracting systems in the study area. the layers of subcontracting could involve contractors, subcontractors, sub-sub-contractors, and sub-sub-sub-contractors (chau & walker, 1994:374). also, the responsibility for quality control indicates that the site engineer or supervisor, who could be a representative of the owner, contractor or subcontractor, depending on the scale of the project, was responsible for quality control of work done in construction sites. the collection of wage from the subcontractor further establishes the role of subcontractors in the determination of workers’ wages. the results of hypotheses testing imply that a high incidence of the subcontracting process will reduce the freedom for workers to decide on the amount of work to be done in exchange for certain wages in the building construction industry. in this context, workers may find it difficult to earn higher wages if the wage is not positively linked with workloads in the industry. also, workers’ experience of lack of synergy between workload and wages in the building construction industry in nigeria is at variance with the doctrine of performance-based-pay (batt, nohara & kwon, 2010:18). the linkages between the subcontracting process, workload and wages can be observed and understood in this context. similarly, bosmans et al. (2016:13) noted that owing to the complexities associated with subcontracting systems, workers’ participation in the determination of their wages may not be feasible. however, possession of rare or special skills should confer some advantage to workers.. 6. conclusions and recommendations this article has established the fact that subcontracting is used widely in the building construction industry in the study area. this article has also established the implications of subcontracting process for an understanding of workers' participation in the determination of wages and workloads in the building construction industry in lagos state, nigeria. these contributions can serve as the basis for generalization on the subject of the research. the fragmented and specialized nature of building construction work necessitates the engagement of different skills required at different times in the construction process. this has been adduced as the main reason for the prevalence of subcontracting systems in the building construction industry. besides, the use of the subcontracting process in the building construction industry has exacerbated the problem of inadequate wages and excess workloads for workers in the building construction industry in nigeria. however, it is noteworthy that unlike the situation in the informal building construction industry, the determination of wages in nigeria has been characterized by government intervention in the form of the national minimum wage legislation and establishment of wage commissions. unfortunately, the socioeconomic reality in the informal building construction industry in nigeria is at variance with the doctrine of payment-by-results, which could have prompted the workers in subcontracting systems to emphasize the volume of work done, as a determinant of the adequacy of remuneration. the findings presented earlier in this article provide statistical 8 a. a. akinwale & o. a. olusanya/journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).1-10 evidence that subcontracting process has produced a significant influence on workers' participation in the determination of wages and workload in the building construction industry in lagos state, nigeria. significantly influence therefore, the findings in this article suggest the need for workers to find a reliable way of enhancing their bargaining power in order to significantly improve the outcome of their participation in the determination of wages in the building construction industry. it is also recommended that workers in the building construction industry should strengthen their associations to achieve justice and decent work in the industry; and that they should be supported by relevant stakeholders such as the ministry of employment and productivity and civil society organisations to achieve justice and decent work in the building construction industry in the informal economy in nigeria. references abraham, a., alvarez-parray, f., and forstnerz, s. 2017. the effects of moral hazard on wage inequality in a frictional labour market. 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[online] http://www.oit.org/legacy/english/protection/travail/pdf/r dwpaper17b.pdf jcbm (2017) 1 (2). 1-10 building information modelling and collaboration in the nigerian construction industry i. o. onungwa1, n. uduma-olugu2 department of architecture., university of lagos, nigeria 1, 2 received 30 october 2016; received in revised form 6 december 2016, 31 january 2017and 1 march 2017; accepted 15 march 2017 abstract building information modelling (bim) is a concept that is transforming the way construction is done internationally. nigeria is lagging regarding the adopting bim as a collaborative tool amongst professionals in architecture, engineering, and construction (aec) industry. the thesis of this paper is to investigate how bim has been adopted in nigeria and determine to what extent it has helped in improving collaboration among stakeholders in nigerian construction industry. the method adopted is that of the structured questionnaire. the questionnaires which were organized to capture the central thesis of this study were distributed among 30 aec firms selected through the simple random sampling method. the responses derived from the responses of respondents were carefully analysed and showed that bim has significant impacts in areas such as client satisfaction, time for completion, quality and presentation of different concepts in schematic design. the responses also showed a high impact on conflict resolution, supervision, construction programming and quality of completed jobs during the post-contract stage. major challenges militating against the adoption of bim were identified to include inadequate infrastructure, lack of skilled workers and insufficient awareness of bim technology. for nigeria to compete internationally in the construction industry, bim should be adopted; hence, there is a need for a more sustained study in this area. the study identified several recommendations which, when applied, can engender a more improved management in the construction industry in nigeria. some of the recommendations include: first: developing a curriculum that will incorporate the study of bim in courses relating to construction. second: establishment of learning centres that deal with studies in new trends in technology should be developed for private practitioners. third: relevant professional bodies should create awareness or publicity about the effectiveness of bim and; fourth, incentives should be made available to aec firms so as to encourage the use of bim and collaboration among stakeholders. keywords: adoption; building information modelling; collaboration; construction lifecycle. 1. introduction bim is a product of the general improvement in technology that is created to encourage teamwork and collaboration during the design and construction period. lucas (2015) averred that bim is a process that acutely increases the ability to collaborate and exchange information throughout a project’s lifecycle from its conception through design, construction, facility management, and decommissioning. bim technologies have been developed primarily as a solution to information and co-ordination problems (baddeley and chang, 2015). according to holness (2008), bim is the 1 corresponding author. tel: +234 803 6767760 email address: digitdesign@yahoo.com 2 email address: nnezi.udumaolugu@gmail.com assembly of a single database of fully integrated and interoperable information that can be used seamlessly and sequentially by all members of the design and construction team and ultimately, by owners/operators throughout a facility's life cycle. efforts at adopting bim in nigeria’s private and public sector and amongst different building professionals (architects, quantity surveyors, civil engineers, etc.) have been very slow. architects have adopted bim, but they have done so mainly for enhancing the visual quality of their presentation (alufohai, 2012). other professionals continue to produce their drawings with 2d auto cad. as a result, collaboration on bim-based projects is not university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:digitdesign@yahoo.com mailto:nnezi.udumaolugu@gmail.com 2 i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 1-10 effective. bim allows for collaboration in design at the early stage of a project. usually, this enables consultants to take their decisions at a project’s early stage and reduce changes that may occur at a later stage in the design process. bim is fast dictating the pace of professionals in the construction industry and changing the process of design and construction of buildings. hassan and yolles, (2009) stated that the 3d modelling process extends to scheduling and sequencing (4d), cost estimating (5d), sustainable design also termed green design (6d) and facility management (7d). bim is a new approach to design, depending on the extent of collaboration between architects, clients, engineers, building services, manufacturers, contractors and other consultants. it is a team approach in which inputs of all professionals in the design are captured in the same model. “it is a unique opportunity for the building industry to have a shared model that incorporates various building components, including the building's geometry, its spatial relationships, and indeed, its material properties and quantities” (hassan and yolles, (2009). the most common programs for bim are autodesk revit, microstation, archicad, cbim, and ruska. baddeley and chang (2015) noted that collaboration is inherently about harnessing social influences – the tendency humans have to co-operate with others. therefore, developing collaborative interaction across professions has become a key issue for both academics and practitioners in recent times (lu, zhang, and rowlinson, 2013). some studies have expressed poor productivity and fragmentation in construction industry (see lu et al., 2013). for nigeria to compete globally in construction, the full potentials and opportunities provided by bim as a collaboration tool have to be utilized. using bim as a mechanism during a project's lifecycle will greatly bolster efficiency in the construction of buildings and reduce the problems that are likely to occur during construction. among professional bodies interested in construction in nigeria, there is limited use of bim due mainly to their inability to keep pace with the modern advancement in technology, their level of awareness about bim is low. it is in this light that the major factors that impede the adoption of bim are identified and discussed here. in highlighting the factors impeding the utilization of bim, it is the hope of this study that the relationship between stakeholders in the construction industry will be strengthened and values that can be derived from this model will be identified. few studies have been done focusing on the adoption of bim in the nigerian construction market. in the same vein, other studies have emphasized the benefits that can be derived from bim in the industry. equally, elsewhere in the world, the capacity of bim to foster collaboration in technology has been explored. abubakir, ibrahim, and kado (2014) explored contractor’s perception of factors affecting bim in the nigerian construction industry. zhang and rowlinson (2013) focused on bim collaboration: a conceptual model and its characteristics. however, studies that centralize bim as a powerful tool that ensures collaboration during the life cycle of the project is yet to be conducted in nigeria. it is assumed that the use of bim will improve the design process and enhance collaboration amongst professionals during schematic design and post-contract stage of design. important as well is that studies have not been done to determine if indeed bim promotes collaboration. also, there has been no effort at discussing why there has not been any significant collaboration among professionals and disciplines within the construction industry in lagos, nigeria. if there has not been any collaboration among professionals in the construction industry in ensuring innovations in their field, then a study that will show that interoperation is needed becomes necessary. collaboration and improvement in communication and efficiency during construction is one of the major advantages of bim. this also accounts for one of the problems militating against innovations in the nigerian construction industry. therefore, the present paper investigates the factors impeding the utilization of bim in nigeria. in doing this, it advocates for an interdisciplinary collaboration among professionals in the construction industry with a view to identifying measures that will make for its improvement. 2. literature review the present paper aims at exploring how the building information modelling (bim) can provide a framework for collaboration among key stakeholders in the construction industry. although several kinds of literature on the building information modelling is available, few have been done in relation to the nigerian context. therefore, the reviews that will be done here will highlight the studies that have been undertaken so far and show its relevance to the nigerian situation. to do this, the review will give a historical survey of the development of the bim to demonstrate the innovations that have been introduced to it at different stages. since the model is useful in enabling technological and interdisciplinary collaboration among professionals in the construction industry, its relevance will also be highlighted. the review will also highlight the challenges that exist in the adoption of bim. equally relevant is the way in which the review will show how bim occupies a central mechanism for architectural design management and, indeed, an effective collaborative tool. 2.1 historical account of bim in the 1950s, the united states military pioneered the development of the first graphic system called sage (semi auto ground environment.) the system was developed in partnership with the lincoln laboratory of massachusetts institute of technology (mit). in the 1960s, ivan sutherland, a researcher at mit developed the sketchpad. “from the roots of the sage graphical interface and ivan sutherland’s sketchpad program in 1963, solid modelling programs began to appear building on developments in the computational representation of geometry.” (http://www.archdaily.com/302490/a-briefhistory-of-bim). one of the first projects to successfully create a building database was the building description system i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 110 3 (bds) which was the first software to describe individual library elements which can be retrieved and added to a model. this project was created by charles eastman. in 1977, eastman created glide (graphical language for interactive design) which has most of the characteristics of current bim." in the 1970s and 1980s, several developments continued around the world. "the bds approach tended to be described as "building product models" in the usa, and "product information models" in europe. these phrases then merged to become "building information model”. 2.2 the relevance of bim in the construction industry there have been many discussions on bim; however, there has arguably been no attempt to relate the discussions of the model to the nigerian context. bim has been in use for many years in nigeria. however, its effectiveness and indeed its potentials have hardly been maximized. the benefits involved in engaging in the use of bim as a collaborative tool include: leveraging on the value of good, reliable information, enabling better coordination, synchronization, and sequencing of projects, by allowing all project participants to access and interrogate project information. at a higher level, bim enables better clash detection (baddeley and chang, 2015). collaboration is often difficult to achieve because the degree of adoption of bim among the different stakeholders in the construction industry is not the same. according to eastman et al. (2011), bim can potentially increase the efficiency, quality, and productivity of construction projects by reducing the number of mistakes and incompatibilities, providing more accurate and up-to-date information, and by giving a more illustrative and accessible exposition of a building. there are many benefits of bim and key among others is the ability to reuse information stored in a database (egbu and sidawi, 2012). automation through bim also improves time and cost management. it streamlines the design process across the company and facilitates automation of emails via knowledge database. other benefits include an ability to visualize what is to be built in a simulated environment, higher reliability of expected field conditions, and allowing for an opportunity to do more prefabrication of materials off-site (rajedran and clarke, 2011). according to gordon and holness (2008), the building design development can continue with the provision of bills of material and generation of shop drawings automatically for everything ranging from structural steel to sheet metal duct fabrication, to fire protection and piping fabrication, to electrical cabling and bus duct layouts. 2.3 challenges and barriers to bim adoption in nigeria oladapo (2006) studied the adoption of ict in the nigerian construction industry and concluded that the most important obstacle is the poor state of electricity and other infrastructures. lack of constant electricity and lack of internet connectivity affect the output of work in offices (abubakir et al., 2014). constant use of generators increases the cost of running the offices. moreover, internet connection is necessary for adequate use of the bim. internet should be available to get drawings from a vendor site. bim systems create big files, implying that the management and transfer of these records will be difficult to do in nigeria, given the slow internet speed and electricity supply problems. this is in addition to the fact that the use of internet facilities in nigeria certainly increases the cost of production. key of the challenges posed by the adoption of bim in nigeria is the interoperability risks between different programs used. (azhar et al., 2012). this affects the collaboration of construction working drawings and limits the use of bim, especially during the post-contract stage. a survey by aec bytes showed that despite each discipline working in 3d environment, collaboration is still primarily based on the exchange of 2d drawings (khemlani, 2007). the ownership of bim data has not yet been determined. it is not yet clear if the bim belongs to the client who paid for it to be done or the architect who developed the model. this can create conflict if the client decides to get inputs from other consultants by himself. in most instances, the architect has to bear the cost of changes in the model during construction, as the client is usually not willing to pay for extra expenses. “bim entails a high setup cost in both software investment and training, potentially hindering the initial rate of conversion. the nebulous benefit of bim perceived by individual users also intensifies the resistance to this new technology. in the short run, a proper incentive system can help lift most of the barriers” (baddeley and chang, 2015). most bims in use do not have object libraries that are utilized in the nigerian market. even so, the standards for drawing presentation have not been developed. the integrated concept of bim increases risk and liabilities to different parties involved (azhar et al., 2011). this creates problems when vendors and other consultants make an input to the bim. there are also various barriers to the adoption of bim. one of them is the lack of skilled personnel (abubakir et al., 2014). there are not enough trained personnel in the industry. most architects train themselves or learn on the job. therefore, they are usually not aware of all innovations in technologies in the software. additionally, the reluctance of other stakeholders in using bim makes it difficult for architects who must transform their drawings to autocad to allow other consultants do their jobs. another barrier to the adoption of bim is the "fear of change" (hassan and yolles, 2009). most people are comfortable with the software they use and, as a result, find it difficult to change or switch to another one, even though it may be more advanced. using bim means a shift in mindset from developing drawings with lines to developing drawings in three dimensions putting in walls, windows, doors and other building components (hassan and yolles, 2009). according to farley (2011), "lack of bim object libraries" affects the production of drawings because some products are not available in the software. many professionals in the construction industry are still not aware of the technology. if bim innovations can be designed to enable inter-disciplinary learning and promote collaboration throughout a project supply chain, 4 i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 1-10 then the efficiency savings are likely to be large (baddeley and chang, 2015). most of the countries that have successfully adopted bim have government participation. alufohai (2012) also stressed the necessity for government involvement; government has helped to achieve progress in most countries. the general services administration (gsa) in the u.s.a made the use of bim a requirement on all major projects receiving significant public funding in 2007. in finland, the senate properties, a government owned organization implemented bim requirements in october 2007. such a role has been played by governments in northern europe. in singapore, the corenet e-plan check system (construction real estate network), launched by singapore’s ministry of national development) provides automated compliance checking against building codes for schemes designed using bim. lack of government encouragement or incentive is one of the factors affecting adoption of bim. 2.4. the relevance of bim as an architectural design management it is believed that the implementation of bim may lead to significant improvement in architectural design team performance. according to emmitt (2010), the management of architectural design is essential for delivering design intent and maximizing value to a wide range of stakeholders. birx (2008) posited that the geometrical cad did not significantly affect the way architects work, but only computerized the drawing practice which was in the past done with boards. his studies also showed that with the increase in the use of bim in the construction industry, there would be cultural changes in several design aspects, constructive processes, services offered, and organizational structure of the companies. ballard and koskela (1998) noted that one major reason for the poor level of design management is the lack of solid conceptual foundation. the use of bim enables input of all professionals in the design process at the conceptual stage. the principal partner and other architects in the architectural practice can make inputs at the conceptual stage. the client can also easily visualize the project. the use of the bim allows design improvement with a reduction of errors, as it anticipates the design definitions. in this way, it avoids problems in future stages, where the modifications usually generate huge consequences. according to souza et al., (2009), the ease of visualization through countless cross-sections, views, and perspectives also contributed to the generation of more intelligent design solutions. the automatic generation of views and cross-sections leads to the possible reduction of the work. offices can meet delivery deadlines with the reduction of the workload spent on each project. 2.5. use of bim as a collaboration tool collaboration is essential for success in the management of any construction project. however, the construction industry has problems of fragmentation and noncollaboration amongst stakeholders. collaboration in bim addresses collaboration amongst the different disciplines involved in the construction project during the various stages of the project's life cycle. the potential of any collaboration depends on cognitive perception, trust, and planning (lu et al., 2013). a cross-profession collaboration theory claims three determinants of successful collaboration: collaborative team characteristics, collaboration environment characteristics, and collaborative processes (lu et al., 2013). the collaborative team involves relevant knowledge, skills, and attitude to work. collaborative environment denotes institutional support, while collaborative processes are effective communication, clarity and conflict resolution processes (lu et al., 2013). bim is a collaborative approach to construction concerned with integrating the various disciplines to build a structure in a virtual and visual environment (lu et al., 2013). given the studies reviewed, there must be a collaborative team, institutional support and efficient communication for bim to work effectively. on its part, effective communication allows stakeholders from different disciplines to exchange detailed and accurate information. bim focuses on series of activities, high levels of data input and highly skilled personnel. for bim to work effectively, the environment for collaboration has to be in place. there must be institutional support from architects and engineers. without this support, the fragmentation which currently exists in the industry will continue, despite the advent of new technology. in europe and america, architects and engineers have been able to integrate their works in the same bim model. in nigeria, "due to non-integration between the architect, m&e, structural engineer, and the general contractor, it is observed that there are clashes between the m&e design and that of the architect such as a sewage pipe hitting or passing through a beam which is only found out on site during the construction exercise" (dim et al., 2015). 2.6 measures of collaboration collaboration in bim is a requirement. different parties share their knowledge and expertise in a single model. bim supports integrated project delivery by providing platform and tools for collaborative design and project management (hamid and pardis, 2014). for collaboration to be monitored, there must be measures for collaboration. in construction management, several key performance indicators (kpi’s) have been identified. these include cost, time, and quality, team performance, communication, stake-holder and human resource management. brewer and mendelson (2013) identified traits in an effective team that can result in collaboration. these include creativity, productivity, co-location, commitment, multidisciplinary work, decision authority, productive environment, training, accountability, consensus leader selection, aligned people and organization, aligned process and practices. hamid and pardis (2014) developed a collaboration assessment tool to monitor collaboration. factors to be considered in their assessment tool include personal and team characteristics, training, human-human interactions, human – computer i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 110 5 interactions, communication channels and physical location of team members. to measure collaboration in bim, its effect on productivity in the construction industry must be considered. "coates et al. (2010), developed some kpis from a case study, focusing on the business impact of bim, including speed of development, improvement in skills and knowledge, reduction of costs, travel, printing, document shipping, and better architecture and deliverables.” to determine challenges to bim adoption and lack of collaboration amongst professionals and disciplines within the construction industry, measures of collaboration in bim need to be developed. measurement of collaboration in bim will include: personal and team characteristics, human interactions within the bim model, channels of communication for team members as well as physical locations of team members. we will also examine the impact of bim in construction life-cycle in nigeria. these include the impact on the speed of development, quality, time of completion, reduction in changes and reduction in cost. 3. research methodology 3.1 aim and objectives the central purpose of this study is to explore the use of building information modelling in nigeria and evaluate the factors that affect its adoption within the context of aec (architecture engineering construction) projects in lagos, nigeria. other subsidiary objectives are to: assess how bim is adopted amongst stakeholders in the nigerian construction market; identify and discuss barriers to bim adoption in lagos, nigeria, during schematic and postcontract stages of design; and determine and analyse the factors which enhance the use of bim as a tool for collaboration among stakeholders in the nigerian construction industry. the study is limited to construction projects. architects and other consultants within the aec industry are the main focus of study. 3.1 methodology the method used in the study were got through a literature review of research subject matter, the literature review of various methodologies that have been used in practice and review of existing theories in practice. abubakar et al. (2015) used structural questionnaires as a tool for collecting data in their research on factors affecting bim in nigerian construction industry. dim et al. (2015) studied case studies of different projects for their research on managing change process with bim implementation by public and private investors in nigeria. oladapo (2006) used questionnaires to survey participants in aec industry. for this study, structured questionnaires were given to 30 professionals in the construction industry. the sample were chosen from professionals already using bim in their practice. lagos and environs were selected for the case study because of the unique position of lagos in nigerian construction industry. “lagos has the highest estimated population of 18 million representing 12% out of a national estimate of 150 million with annual growth rate of between 6% and 8% compared to 4 -5% country growth rate and global 2% growth rate. it is the second most populous city in africa after cairo in egypt and estimated to be the fastest-growing city in africa and the seventh fastest growing in the world (oshodi., 2010). questionnaires were developed using theories identified in the field; technology acceptance model and task-technology fit. technology acceptance model was used to develop questions on acceptance of bim as a tool for design development; questions included perceived ease of use, the usefulness of bim, reasons for adoption or lack of adoption, and level of acceptance for architectural design. task technology fit model was used to develop questions on the use of bim as a functional tool in various aspects of the construction industry: quality, time management, presentation of design concepts, conflict resolution, cost estimation, change management, safety, and construction programming. questions included the impact of bim on schematic design stage, impact on post contract stage, factors preventing the adoption of bim and solution to challenges. answers from respondents were collected and analysed. data was collected using likert scale to rank level of impact of bim during schematic design and post contract stage using different variables. data was analysed using spss version 22. data from questionnaires were imported into the software and analysed. the results from the variables were tabulated and the mean value determined. the mean values were used to determine variables with highest impact on post contract stage of design and schematic stage od design. this method was used because data collected were easily analysed and deductions were extrapolated. it is also accurate and easy to understand. the test of the reliability of the responses to the study of the impact of bim on collaboration in schematic design and post contract design stage was determined using standardised cronbach’s alpha. analysis of variance (anova) was used to test if there is significant variation in how the respondents rated the items in each section of the instrument. 4. finding and discussion data from questionnaires were analysed and findings from the study are discussed in this section. table 1 shows the reliability analysis of questionnaire on impact of bim on collaboration in schematic design and post contract design stage 6 i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 1-10 table 1: reliability test results of instrument instrument scale statistics reliability statistics validity statistics (anova) source no. of items number of samples mean sd cv cronbach's alpha f-value p-value impact of bim on schematic design stage 6 16 26.810 2.040 0.080 0.737 140.904 0.000 impact of bim on post contract design stage 9 16 38.310 3.610 0.090 0.767 22.735 0.000 factors preventing adoption 9 16 32.190 4.722 0.150 0.760 32.626 0.000 source: field survey, 2015. sd (standard deviation). cv (coefficient of variation). the test of the reliability of the responses on the study of the impact of bim on collaboration in schematic design and post contract design stage, using standardized cronbach’s alpha is obtained for each section as 0.737, 0.767 and 0.760. these results suggest that the instrument of evaluation is highly reliable judging from the fact that 0.737, 0.767 and 0.76 are more than 0. 70 threshold value, respectively. a reliable coefficient of 0.7 or higher is considered acceptable for internal consistency of the items in the instruments (questionnaires) used for data collection. these results are supported by the coefficient of variation (cv) values; 0.08, 0.09 and 0.15, which are respectively less than 0.50 threshold value, indicating homogeneity on how the respondents rated the items. hence, there is an internal consistency of the answers from the respondents, and therefore the data do not violate the assumption of reliability. the result of the analysis revealed that the test is significant at f-value = 140.904, 22.735 and 32.626, p < 0.05, respectively. the results suggested no significance variation on the rating of the items by respondents in the instruments. hence, the reliability of the tools is significant, which validates the adequacy of the instruments. table 2: analysis of socio-economic variables variable characteristics freq. % mean total address within lagos 12 75.0 south west 3 18.8 south south 1 6.3 16 years in business 1-5 years 5 31.3 6-10 years 2 12.5 11–15years 6 37.5 over 21 years 3 18.8 10.8 16 total no of employees 1-5 staff 8 50.0 6-10 staff 6 37.5 11–15 staff 1 6.3 over 21 staff 1 6.3 7 16 what kind of projects do you do? mostly residential 1 6.3 mostly commercial 1 6.3 all types 14 87.5 16 indicate if any building information modelling software is used in your practice? yes 16 100.0 16 if yes, which software is used? autodesk revit 13 81.3 archicad 3 18.7 16 indicate whether an applicant using bim would be considered for employment before one that does not use it? no 2 12.5 yes 14 87.5 16 source: field survey 2015 i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 110 7 a bulk of the respondents (75%), were from firms within lagos, 18.8% were from other southwestern states, while 6.3% were from the south region of nigeria. the highest group of respondents were businesses that had been in operation for 11 – 15 years (37.5%), followed by those between 1 – 5 years (31.3%). 18.8% of the respondents have been in business for over 21 years. the least number of respondents were those whose business were 6 – 10 years old (12.5%). the respondents cut across the demographics reflecting the views of both those who have been long in practice and those who are relatively new to practice.81.3% of the professionals interviewed use autodesk revit in their office while 18.7% use archicad. the professionals who are not using bim stated that they would consider staff using bim for employment before those not using it. this means that they deem bim to be an important skill. question 1: how has the use of bim solutions improved drawings during the schematic design stage? this evaluates reasons for adoption of bim amongst stakeholders in the aec industry and its effect on collaboration amongst stakeholders. table 3: analysis of impact of bim on schematic design stage variables response descriptive 1 2 3 4 5 mean rank relative index extent client satisfaction 5 11 4.69 1 1.05 high quality of drawings produced 5 11 4.69 1 1.05 high time of completion of presentation drawings 1 6 9 4.50 2 1.01 medium presentation of different concepts of design 1 1 3 11 4.50 2 1.01 medium collaboration with other staff in the office 2 7 7 4.31 3 0.96 low collaboration with other consultants 1 3 5 7 4.13 4 0.92 low pooled 4.47 1.00 source: field survey 2015: no effect (1), worse (2), negligible (3), much (4), very much (5). from the results, client satisfaction, quality of drawings produced ranked highest with most of the respondents saying bim affected it very much. the mean value was 4.69. time for completion of drawings and presentation of different design concepts were next with a mean value of 4.50. results also show that the effect of bim on collaboration is low both with staff in the same office and with consultants from other offices; thereby confirming the need to encourage the more collaborative use of bim (table 3). question 2: how has the use of bim solutions improved your drawings during post contract design stage? this evaluates the importance of bim to stakeholders in the aec industry using key performance indexes. table 4: analysis of impact of bim on post contract design stage variables response descriptive 1 2 3 4 5 mean rank relative index extent conflict resolution in drawings 1 4 11 4.63 1 1.09 high construction programming 2 7 7 4.31 2 1.01 high supervision of jobs 1 9 6 4.31 2 1.01 high quality of completed jobs 2 7 7 4.31 2 1.01 high energy efficiency 2 7 7 4.31 2 1.01 high time of completion 2 8 6 4.25 3 1.00 medium collaboration with other consultants 1 3 5 7 4.13 4 0.97 low estimation of costs 1 1 9 5 4.06 5 0.95 low safety 4 8 4 4.00 6 0.94 low pooled 4.26 1.00 source: field survey 2015: no effect (1), worse (2), negligible (3), much (4), very much (5) conflict resolution in drawings was the main advantage in post contract stage of design in table 4 with a mean value of 4.63. this reinforces the statement that bim improves co-ordination and efficiency during the post-contract design stage (table 4). construction programming, supervision of jobs, quality of completed jobs and energy efficiency were also rated high by the respondents with mean values of 4.31, whereas collaboration with other consultants, estimation of costs, and safety was considered as having a low impact on the use of bim at post contract design stage (table 4). question 3: what premium would you place on these factors as the barriers to adoption of building information modelling in lagos, nigeria? this identifies barriers to adoption of bim. 8 i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 1-10 table 5: analysis of factors preventing adoption of bim variables response descriptive 1 2 3 4 5 mean rank relative index extent lack of skilled personnel 6 8 2 3.75 1 1.05 high lack of internet connectivity 2 2 8 4 3.75 1 1.05 high reluctance of other stake holders to use bim 2 5 5 4 3.69 2 1.03 high lack of bim object libraries 2 4 7 3 3.69 2 1.03 high lack of awareness of technology 1 2 3 5 5 3.69 2 1.03 high extra costs involved in hardware, software and developing office procedures 3 4 6 3 3.56 3 0.99 low frequent power failures 2 2 2 8 2 3.38 4 0.94 low lack of contractual documents for bim 1 3 3 7 2 3.38 4 0.94 low fear of change 4 6 3 3 3.31 5 0.92 low pooled 3.58 1.00 source: field survey 2015: for no impact (1), for little critical impact (2), for fairly critical impact (3), critical impact (4), for extremely critical impact (5). the major factors preventing the adoption of bim were identified as lack of skilled personnel and lack of internet connectivity with mean values of 3.75(table 5). the reluctance of other stakeholders, lack of awareness of technology and lack of bim object libraries were also identified as factors preventing adoption. the cost of hardware/software, frequent power failure, lack of contractual documents and fear of change were rated as having a low impact on the adoption of bim in nigeria (table 5). this was different from studies by oladapo which identified power supply as the major barrier to adoption of ict in nigeria (oladapo, 2006). question 4: what needs to be done in the nigerian construction industry to encourage efficient utilization of bim? this identifies factors that will improve adoption and collaboration of bim. table 6: analysis of solutions to challenges and barriers to adoption of bim items frequency percent cumulative percent no answer 10 62.5 62.5 policy makers should promote the use through the result of research done in the institute 1 6.3 68.8 schools should provide necessary equipment and enforce learning to all students 1 6.3 75.0 seminars, lectures, demonstrations on the use of bim 1 6.3 81.3 the provision of basic infrastructure that will promote the use of bim 1 6.3 87.5 training and awareness 1 6.3 93.8 training, adaptation to changes 1 6.3 100.0 total 16 100.0 the responses from the open-ended questions indicated the respondents’ opinions on how the barriers could be overcome. among them are the need for more research, for training at various levels and the provision of basic infrastructure that will promote the use of bim. 4.0 conclusion some solutions to challenges and barriers to the adoption of bim, especially in the collaborative manner have been identified from the study. lack of skilled personnel was identified as one of the major barriers to adoption of bim. this emphasizes the need to incorporate bim education in our universities. lack of infrastructure and reluctance of stakeholders to use bim were also identified as barriers from literature review and from study. the study identified client satisfaction and improvement in quality of drawings as the major advantage in adoption of bim during schematic stage of design. data from the studies confirms that the main advantage of bim during post contract stage is conflict resolution. collaboration with bim will increase efficiency and quality of construction so awareness needs to be created within the professional bodies. 4.1 recommendation it is recommended that bim training centres be established in universities and schools of higher learning, which will be used for training of aec professionals in the construction industry. bim as a course should be introduced in all schools of architecture engineering, quantity surveying, and other construction disciplines i. o. onungwa, n. uduma-olugu / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 110 9 nigerian institute of architects, nigerian institute of quantity surveyors and other regulatory bodies in the construction industry need to get involved with bim and help in its standardization in nigeria. the federal government of nigeria and other building and construction agencies should enforce the use of bim by organizing workshops and seminars to educate owners, architects, engineers, contractors and other stakeholders on the uses and advantages of bim for public and private construction projects in nigeria. the government can start by making bim mandatory for all government projects. there is a need for more research on the use of bim in construction in nigeria. for effective collaboration, institutional support from the private offices is very important. the leaders in private firms have to be committed to this. for this to happen, there must be some remuneration for efforts made in investing on new software and training. references abdirad, h and pishdad-bozorgi, p. 2014. developing a framework of metrics to assess collaboration in integrated project delivery retrieval. 50th asc annual international conference proceedings, associated schools of construction. 26-28 march 2014, 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(may 12,2014) azhar, s., hein, m. and sketo, b. 2011. building information management benefits, risks, and challenges. leadership and management in engineering, asce 2011, 11(3); 241-252 azhar, s., khalfan, m. and maqsood, t. 2012. building information modelling (bim): now and beyond. australasian journal of construction economics and building, 4:15-28. baddeley, m. and chang, c. 2015. collaborative building information modelling (bim): insights from behavioural economics and incentive theory. rics research publication. online https://researchgate.net/ publication/281243999 (march 2015). ballard, g. and koskela, l. 1998. on the agenda of design management research, proceedings of iglc ’98. guaruja, brazil birx, g. w. 2008. getting started with building information modelling. the american institute of architects best practices, www,ashrae.org (june 2015) brewer, w.and mendelson, m. i. 2003. methodology and metrics for assessing team effectiveness. the international journal of engineering education, 19: 777787. cicrp. 2009. bim project execution planning guide. the computer integrated construction research group, the pennsylvania state university, pa. coates, p., arayici, y., koskela, l., kagioglou, m., usher, c., and o’reilly, k. 2010. the key performance indicators of the bim implementation process. paper presented at the international conference on computing in civil and building engineering, april 2010, nottingham, uk. davison, r. m., martinsons, m. g. and kock, n. 2004. principles of canonical action research. information systems journal, 14: 65-86. deluca, d. 2008. furthering information systems action research: a post-positivist synthesis of four dialectics. journal of the association for information systems, 9 (2):48-72. dim, n. u., basili, e. and okoro, b. 2015. managing change process with bim implementation by public and private investors in nigerian building industry. donnish journal of engineering and manufacturing technology, 2:001-006. eastman, c., teicholz, p., sacks, r. and liston, k. 2011. bim handbook, a guide to building information modelling for owners, managers, designers, engineer, and contractors. new jersey: john wiley and sons, inc. egbu, c. and sidawi, b. 2012. building information modelling (bim) implementation and remote construction projects; issues, challenges, and critiques. journal of information technology in construction, 47: 75 85. emmitt, s. 2010. design management in architecture, engineering, and construction: origins and trends. gestão & tecnologia de projetos, 5(3). farley, a. 2011. assessing the impacts of building information modelling. the building economist, june 2011:13-19. gianina. lala (fădor).2014 the emergence and development of the technology acceptance model (tam), international conference marketing from information to decision, november 2014:7; 149 gordon, v. and holness, p. 2008. bim gaining momentum. ashrae.org, june 2008: 28-30. hassan, a. and yolles, h. 2009. building information modelling, a primer. canadian consulting engineer, june/july 2009: 42. iversen, j. h., mathiassen, l., and nielsen, p. a. 2004. managing risk in software process improvement: an action research approach. mis quarterly, (28)3: 395 – 433. khemlani, l. 2007. top criteria for bim solutions, a survey conducted by aecbytes. http://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2007/bimsurveyrepo rt.html. 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(10 october 2015) rubenstone, j. 2012. autodesk steers users toward the cloud with expanded subscription-based services. engineering news record, april 16, 2012. singh, v., gu, n. and wang, x. 2010. a theoretical framework of a bim-based multi-disciplinary collaboration platform. automation in construction 20 (2011) 134–144. souza, l., amorim, s., and magalhães, a. 2009. impact from the use of bim in architectural design offices: real estate market opportunities, design management and technology 1, i. 2. vangen, s. and huxham, c. 2010. introducing the theory of collaborative advantage, emerging perspectives on theory and practice of public governance. london: routledge, 163-184. jcbm (2019) 3(2). 49-58 barriers to the effective regulation of the building construction industry: an empirical analysis w. o. omollo 1 1 department of planning and development, kisii university, kenya received 29 april 2019; received in revised form 27 may 2019, 2 july 2019; accepted 17 july 2019 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.2.745 abstract this study investigates key barriers to the effective regulation of the building construction industry in kenya, a case study of kisii town. it was guided by the public interest theory of regulation, which provided the underpinning elucidating why the building construction industry in kenya needs regulation. the target population comprised 84 registered building contractors with a sample size of 66 selected using simple random sampling by application of random number table. as regards limitation, the study does not measure the extent of quality assurance within the construction industry, but rather delve on the key factors impeding its effective regulation. the research findings show that ineffective regulation of the construction industry in kisii town was prompted by the joint activities of building development contractors and limitations of the national construction authority (nca) (the regulator). regarding the activities of building contractors, identified barriers included failure to refer to key legislation that regulates the construction industry, failure to obtain statutory approvals of building development, and laxity to invite supervision of ongoing projects by planning authorities. conversely, factors elucidating why nca was not successfully regulating the construction industry included inadequate multi-sectoral coordination, inadequate surveillance, and limited sensitization of key stakeholders. drawing from these findings, the study recommends regular monitoring and enhanced enforcement that would promote compliance and sensitization of contractors with applicable standards and regular inspections of ongoing projects. also, establishing a coordinating committee to harmonize institutions that deal with development control. keywords: construction industry, kenya, kisii town, regulation 1. introduction the global construction industry was in 2017, valued at us$ 10.4 trillion and projected to annually expand by 3.7% to the us $12.4 trillion by 2022 (amiri and bausman, 2018). the construction sector is widely acknowledged as among the top accelerators of prosperity owing to its role in the economic uplift through employment generation. the industry, in the same way, plays a vital role by being a leading source of income within the formal and informal sectors (khan, 2008). by its nature, the construction industry has the prospective for mobilizing and efficiently exploiting human capital and physical resources towards the development and improvement of housing along with the attendant infrastructure to enhance economic efficiency (oladrin et al., 2012). this makes it among the noticeable 1 corresponding author. email address: wochieng@kisiiuniversity.ac.ke contributors to economic prosperity since its products provide indispensable public and private infrastructure that supports undertakings such as trade, amenities and services. as such, it remains significant on account of its end product, effectively making it a requisite for economic transformation (wibowo, 2009). however, notwithstanding its acclaimed significance, inadequate regulation of the industry may attract salient challenges which could potentially negate the much anticipated economic benefits. to cite an example (gichana and nyagesiba, 2016), on 11th october 2017, six people were left dead with several injured after a threestory building that was under construction in kisii town collapsed, a problem credited to poor workmanship and the disregard of building regulations by developers and their contractors. unregulated developments in kisii town have also led to noncompliance with standards such university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.2.745 50 w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 as building coverage ratio and floor area ratio, leading to unsustainable development (omollo et al., 2018). no country can, therefore, prosper if its construction industry is not well-regulated (gacheru and diang'a, 2015). regulation of the industry is, therefore, obligatory given that contractors and their clients are responsible for the development of structures occupied by millions of people. in this esteem, the construction industry in kenya and by extension in kisii town is hence not an exception. the objective of this study was, therefore, to examine key barriers to the effective regulation of the building construction industry in kenya using kisii town as a case study. in terms of rationale, the study provides policy formulating bodies in developing and developed countries with pragmatic options towards the effective regularization of their residential building construction industries, a strategy for attaining sustainable urban development. furthermore, the study makes a methodological contribution to the literature on building development control by empirically elucidating the correlation of factors limiting the regulation of the construction industry using exploratory factor analysis (efa) and confirmatory factor analysis (cfa). 2. barriers to the regulation of construction industry: a literature review compliance with building regulations and laws is a legislative requisite in the construction industry (windapo and cattel, 2010). notwithstanding this obligation, a growing body of literature suggests that the industry's regulation continues to emerge as one of the key challenges of achieving sustainable development. a study of mozambique's construction industry by nhabinde et al. (2012) established that inadequate regulation was prompted by contractors who were not certified, insufficient policy and institutional coordination, and a lack of qualified personnel. these findings relate to that of windapo and cattel (2010) who argued that the south african construction industry had a skill and knowledge gap along with the fact that most supervisory positions were held by people who, although not well educated, were more experienced. as such, the extent of non-compliance with stipulated regulations was high amongst the unqualified and less experienced firms not registered with the country's construction industry development board. further, some site managers were unaware of the legislation that regulate building construction industry. regulation of the building construction industry may also be affected by noncompliance with approval conditions. for instance, ngetich et al. (2014) found out that 38% of the applicants who obtained a development permit between 2005 and 2010 in eldoret town, kenya, failed to comply with stipulated building regulations. above findings compares with that of by hedidor and bondinuba (2017) who averred that the informal construction sector in ghana paid little attention to the approved regulations for the construction of buildings. this was elicited by low levels of training and competence of artisans within the industry. on account of inadequate regulation, low-quality training duped apprentices into thinking that they were fully qualified when they were not. in mombasa, kenya, gacheru (2015) found out that barriers to the regulation of construction industry included the inadequate capacity by nca to detect errant contractors through frequent surveys, weak enforcement of regulations, inadequate sensitization and poor attitude of contractors towards the regulatory bodies. according to ofori-kuragu (2016), key challenges to effective regulation of the construction industry in ghana included lack of coordination and a clear agenda to address the apparent problems that afflict performance within the industry. as additionally corroborated by hedidor and bondinuba (2017), the country lacked a multi-stakeholder representative body that could provide leadership in the pursuit of reforms in the ghanaian construction industry. in their research, callistus et al (2014) through a case study of smallscale contractors in ghana demonstrated that some of the barriers to effective regulation of the industry were corruption, lack of coordination between designers and contractors, inadequate monitoring and feedback by relevant authorities, and lack of training on quality for staff. in an attempt to further investigate compliance and enforcement challenges concerning the national building regulations process in south africa, twum-darko and mazibuko (2015) established that developers had a low level of awareness and understanding of the regulatory role of implementation of national building regulations. other challenges included ineffective communication channels between the stakeholders and the regulator and also inconsistencies of the enforcement of the legislation by various local authorities. a further study by kumar and pushplata (2015) on compliance with building regulations for the hill towns of india demonstrated that the enforcement and surveillance mechanism to ensure compliance was not adequate. given this, there were fewer initiatives by regulatory authorities in an attempt to stop illegal and unplanned developments. moreover, there was a shortage of technical experts in hill towns who could implement existing building regulations in addition to ensuring that construction activities were carried out in compliance with the approved regulations. these findings are further corroborated by adebowale et al. (2016), who established that a key challenge within nigeria's construction industry included poor workmanship and inadequate supervision. in this case, supervision should constantly aim to ensure that building developments are undertaken as approved by planning by authorities. from the preceding literature review, key barriers to effective regulation of the construction industry may be summarised to include insufficient coordination, lack of qualified staff within firms, inadequate capacity by regulatory authorities, inadequate enforcement and surveillance, and lack of stakeholders' sensitization. the current study, however, examines the statistical relationship between key barriers that influence effective regulation of the construction industry. 3. overview of the construction industry in kenya kenya's construction industry is well-developed and characterised by established businesses that primarily engage in housing projects, engineering services such as w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 51 roads, and allied trade services (competition authority of kenya 2017). currently, the industry remains a significant multiplier in the country's economy through its remarkable impact on the country's gross domestic product (gdp). in this way, it presents a key driver of economic prosperity. kenya's construction industry respectively grew by 6.1%, 13.1%, 13.8%, 9.8% and 8.6% between 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 in that order, denoting a thriving sector. noticeably, in 2015, the industry accounted for 7% of kenya's gdp, further maintaining that the country has a well-developed construction industry (kenya national bureau of statistics, 2018). kenya's economic outlook, in addition, suggests that the construction industry is ranked among the leading sectors that have continued to attract investors with a particular interest in areas such as transportation, upgrading of informal settlements and slums, the supply of construction materials, construction of housing, and manufacturing (competition authority of kenya 2017). the construction industry in kenya is regulated by the government and its associated agencies through various legislations to ensure that this growth does not impact on the built environment. the industry is regulated by the nca, a state corporation established under section 3 of the nca act (2011). according to section 5 of the act, the authority has a mandate of regulating and building capacity within the construction industry. further, it accredits site supervisors and skilled construction workers, in addition to monitoring the performance of all contractors. to attain this, the authority has grouped construction companies depending on the contract cost they are permitted to handle together with the academic qualifications for the proprietors of the firms (the republic of kenya, 2011). the act is operationalized through regulations that give nca the mandate of regulating, promoting quality assurance and researching matters dealing with construction (the republic of kenya, 2014). a significant critique of the nca act is that it does not pay attention to the enforcement of planning standards during the inspection of construction projects. moreover, the act has not granted the nca statutory powers of prosecuting errant contractors and developers. apart from nca, building construction industry in kenya is also regulated by county governments through development control following section 36 of the physical planning act of 1996 (the republic of kenya, 1996). this legislation, under section 29, empowers the county governments with the mandate of developing bylaws which are essential in controlling zoning as concerns use and density of development, considering and approving all applications for development, prohibiting the use and development of land and buildings towards promoting orderly development and granting all permissions for development. section 30 further prohibits any person from undertaking development within the area of a county government without a permit issued by the respective county government. a key limitation of the physical planning act of 1996 is that it is too lenient when it comes to reprimanding developers who do not comply with the requirement of obtaining a development permit. for instance, section 30 (2) of the act prescribes a penalty of only kshs 130,000 (1,284.40 usd). this is low considering the impacts that may be brought by unregulated construction industry such as the collapse of buildings. the requirements of the physical planning act of 1996 are additionally augmented by the building code of 1968 where section 16 (1) compels a person intending to develop a building in addition to first obtaining a development permit to also give the appropriate county government, a notice of inspection showing the date and time when the building construction, plumbing and drain laying will commence (the republic of kenya, 1968). further, the following are required to be ready for inspection: foundation bed, foundation concrete, damp proof course, ceiling, concrete after shuttering is removed, concrete after shuttering is removed, drainage, plumbing installations, and sewer connection. in effect, the code makes it obligatory for the inspection of buildings during the construction process in addition to issuing certificates of occupancy to ensure that completed buildings have complied with the stipulated quality assurance standards. 4. study objective, scope, and theoretical underpinning the objective of this study was to investigate the barriers towards effective regulation of the building construction industry in kenya, a case study of kisii town. although county governments in kenya also regulate the construction industry, the scope of this study was, however, limited to nca since it retains the exclusive mandate of registering and accrediting contractors in kenya. concerning theoretical orientation, it is anchored in the public interest theory of regulation (pitr). pitr postulates that unregulated economic markets have a predisposition of operating inadequately by focusing on the interests of individuals while overlooking the significance of society (christensen, 2010). hence, to monitor such markets, the state has to intercede through regulations. as the leading statutory governing authority, the state consequently promotes the concern of the society at large instead of enacting laws that would favour it as an overarching regulator. in the context of the present study, the theory rightly supports why the construction industry in kisii town necessitated statutory regulation by nca and other planning authorities to ensure compliance with set regulatory standards. this is because building development control is procedurally effected through compulsory directives dispensed and enforced by the agencies of the state. in this case, developers who do not comply consequently attract stiff penalties as may be specified in the applicable legislation. 5. research methods 5.1 background to the study area kisii town as the administrative capital of kisii county lies about 120 km to the south of kisumu city, the thirdlargest urban area in kenya, and 320 km west of nairobi city, kenya's capital city. spatially, the town covers an area of 34 km2. kisii town has a topography that is typified by several valleys. while nyanchwa hills, which 52 w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 lies at an altitude of approximately 1800 m above sea level is located in the southern part of the town, mwamosioma hills, which similarly rises to around 1800 m above sea level is located in the northern part of the town. further, rising to 1950 m above sea level to the southern part of the town is bobaracho and gesarara hills. the town is well drained by several rivers which collectively form the river riana tributaries. the population of the kisii town in 2017 was estimated at 90,100 and projected to 140,118 by 2032 (omollo, 2018). this increase is likely to intensify land use development, therefore attracting more investments in the construction industry. however, if this transpires in the absence of an effective regulatory framework by designated statutory authorities, challenges such as non-compliance by stakeholders in the built environment are bound to increase at the disadvantage of sustainable land use planning. 5.2 target population, sample and sampling design the target population for the study comprises of 84 registered contractors whose scope of operations covered building development obtained from the nca regional office in kisii town. a sample size determination table that krejcie and morgan (1970) recommends was after that used in selecting the desired sample size of 64. questionnaires with a thematic grouping of structured and unstructured questions were then administered to sampled registered building contractors after a pilot study. 5.3 validity and reliability the study adopted content validity, defined by kothari (2004) as the degree to which an instrument used in research offers sufficient coverage regarding the phenomenon under analysis. to comply with this requirement, two experts in building construction management were given the questionnaires. in this context, while one evaluated the concepts that the instruments were measuring, while the other considered if the items sufficiently embodied the notion under investigation. research instruments were in the end enriched based on the two expert opinions along with a pilot test that was successfully undertaken in nyamira town, 25 km from kisii town. the current study adopted cronbach alpha in the testing of reliability. the test was developed by lee cronbach (1951) to offer a measure of internal consistency. according to goforth (2015), in an attempt to provide a general computation of item consistency in a questionnaire, the reliability coefficient varieties from 0 to 1. in this case, if the alpha (α) coefficient is higher, the questions are more likely to share covariance and possibly measure the same fundamental concept. 5.4 analysis of data both descriptive (cross-tabulation and percentages) and inferential (exploratory factor analysis (efa), pearson's bivariate correlation coefficient, and confirmatory factor analysis (cfa)) statistics were used in data analysis. while cross-tabulation and percentages were used in exploring the descriptive relationship between categorical variables, pearson's bivariate correlation was used in testing the relationships among selected variables. regarding efa, the multivariate technique was used in identifying latent constructs or components through principal component analysis (pca) and reducing observed variables into smaller sets to facilitate easier interpretations. it was applied to determine why nca could not effectively regulate the building construction industry in kisii town. cfa was employed alongside pca to validate the factor structure of observed variables. this allowed testing of the proposition that relationships between observed variables and their latent constructs existed. 6. results and discussions 6.1 survey response rate and reliability test the obtained response rate for questionnaires administered to contractors was 70%. this was above the minimum of 50% recommended by mugenda and mugenda (2003). it was concluded that the responses were sufficiently representative for drawing logical deductions as well as in making key policy recommendations towards attaining an effective regulation of the building construction industry in kisii town. as suggested by kothari (2004), the outcomes of pilot studies ought to be documented in research. after piloting, the questionnaire's reliability was tested using cronbach's α. consequential cronbach's α was 0.834, which demonstrated very high levels of internal consistency. consequently, no variables were dropped for that reason. having examined the response rate and results of the reliability test, the next subsections now present the research findings on barriers to the regulation of the construction industry in kisii town. in this setting, barriers to regulation are discussed under two subsections: factors induced by registered building contractors who have a duty of ensuring compliance and those prompted by nca as their regulator. 6.2 factors induced by building contractors according to anyanwu (2013), a contractor is a crucial expert at the centre of any building construction. the contractor's primary duties entail coordination of all activities and taking charge to ensure that the project is developed as per the specifications in the approved building plans. the contractor must ensure that the construction process complies with all statutory requirements at the pre-construction stage, construction and close-out phase. 6.2.1 laws that guide building contractors it is the responsibility of contractors to ensure that they make reference to applicable laws in the process of building development. the study as such sought to find out which laws guided them before commencing construction, during construction and in postconstruction. results showed that a majority (57.9%) made reference to the nca act of 2012, followed by the environmental management and coordination act (emca) of 1999 (10.5%), the physical planning act (cap. 286) and the building code (each 7%) and the ministry of public works regulations (5.3%). nevertheless, 10.5% were not aware of any such laws. w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 53 findings suggest that 12.3% never referred to any law, while only 7% referred to the physical planning act (cap. 286). it draws attention to why 27% of developers never obtained development permission, thus providing room for flouting building regulations. such inconsistency in the application of legislation related to development is, therefore, among the key challenges undermining effective regulation of the construction industry in kisii town. 6.2.2.approvals obtained by contractors and guiding planning standards building contractors in the study area also have an obligation of ensuring that they obtain the correct approvals from clients before commencing development statutory process. key approvals as per various legislations include notification of approval by the physical planning department (ppd) through form ppa2, permission by the national environment management authority (nema) through environmental impact assessment (eia) license, and project registration by nca (table 1). table 1: types of approvals contractors obtained from clients type of approval obtained from client per cent approval by ppd 10.7 eia license from nema 17.3 approval by the public health department 10.7 approval by nca 22.7 site plan 13.3 approved structural drawings 6.7 contract with client 5.3 client's permission 13.3 results indicate that while most contractors (22.7%) were only keen to comply with nca's approval, 17.3% prioritized obtaining eia. notably, 13.3% revealed that all they required was the client's permission to begin construction. at the same time, only 10.7% reported requiring approvals from ppd and phd, respectively. this may suggest that nca emerges as more stringent in the enforcement of construction quality assurance standards. it is also apparent that contractors place less emphasis on the building plans approved by ppd, which contains enforceable planning standards. this potentially attracts nonconformity with such standards (for example, floor area ratio), therefore contributing to unregulated land-use change. drawing from the preceding insight, the study sought to find out which planning standards guided contractors. results suggested that a majority (46%) cited building height regulation, 2% british standards, 4% european standards, and water resources management authority regulations, respectively. however, of great concern was that 44% reported not to be guided by any planning standard. the problem is compounded by the fact that 22% of the respondents were not aware of the existence of kisii town physical development plan, which is used as a tool for undertaking development control in the study area. 6.2.3 supervision of building developments during the construction process section 16 (1) of the building code (1968) requires a person who intends to develop a building to give the planning authority a "notice of inspection" card indicating the date and time when the development will begin. it is, therefore, the contractor's responsibility to ensure that the notice is issued to the planning authority. the study, as a result, sought to establish from building contractors, which office supervised their projects and frequency of supervision, an aspect considered necessary since supervision enhances monitoring, conformity, and enforcement. it emerged that only 20% of projects were supervised during all phases. this potentially creates a gap that encourages developers not to comply with recommended building regulations. concerning projects which had been supervised, the study, as indicated in figure 1, examined who supervised them. figure 1: responsibility for the inspection of building developments it can be seen that the public works office accounted for 27% of inspections, followed by nema at 25% to ensure implementation of environmental management plans. nca accounted for 16%, while quantity surveyor (qs) 7%. the frequency of supervision varied at a minimum of one and a maximum of four times. overall mean was four. what these results denote was that although ppd and phd approved building developments, they never inspected the same to ascertain compliance. this also creates a missing link that presents developers with an nema; 25% nca; 16% public works; 27% county engineer; 11% site architect; 2% qs; 7% site engineer; 7% water office; 5% other; 19% 54 w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 opportunity of disregarding the sanctioned planning standards; consequently, a key driver of unplanned landuse change. all these problems occasioned mostly because contractors infrequently invited concerned departments to inspect buildings under construction. 6.3 factors induced by nca: an exploratory and confirmatory factor approach after observing that most contractors were not versed with planning standards and laws in addition to the development control process, it was conjectured that the limitation was induced by institutional limitations of the regulator nca. this was informed by section 5 (2) g and k of the nca act (2012), which grants the authority powers to ensure quality assurance in the construction industry, accredit and register contractors, in addition to regulating their professional undertakings. principal component analysis (pca) was, therefore, used to determine which underlying factors (components) explained why the nca was not adequately regulating the building construction industry in kisii town. pca is a multivariate method that analyses a data table in which observations are described by several inter-correlated quantitative dependent variables (abdi and williams, 2010). its objective is to summarize data to enable patterns and their associations to be easily comprehended and interpreted. it aims at summarizing data to allow patterns and relationships to be effortlessly deduced and understood. it is usually applied in rearranging variables into a limited set of groups constructed on common variance and assists to segregate concepts and constructs (yong and pearce, 2013). examination of the appropriateness of factor analysis was attained using the kaiser-meyer olkin (kmo) and bartlett's test, which is commonly applied in research. reported chi-square approximation was 345.249 with 91 degrees of freedom, which was significant, p = .000. the kmo of 0.727 was also larger (higher than 0.50, as recommended by kaiser, 1974) (table 2). this gave credibility to pca as a suitable technique for further factor analysis. table 2: kmo and bartlett's test kaiser-meyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy .727 bartlett's test of sphericity: approx. chi-square 345.249 df 91 sig. .000 data collected from sampled building development contractors were subjected to a principal axis factor (paf) with an orthogonal varimax rotation of the 15 likert scale questions. computation of the variance followed this accounting for the initial solution as well as the rotated components extracted (table 3). the initial eigenvalues are captured in the first part of table 3. while the total column highlights the amounts of variance in the original study variables accounted for by each component, the percentage of the variance column, reports the ratio, depicted as a percentage of the variance expounded by each component when compared to the aggregate variation within the variables. additionally, the cumulative percentage column provides the percentage of variance accounted for by the first identified components. for example, the cumulative percentage for the third component is the sum of the percentage of actual variance for the first and second components. because only the eigenvalues larger than one were extracted, the first three principal components formed the extracted solution, which explains nearly 63.78% of the variability in the original 14 variables (table 3). table 3: total variance explained by pca initial eigenvalues extraction sums of squared loadings component total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % 1 5.99 42.80 42.80 5.99 42.80 42.80 2 1.52 10.90 53.71 1.52 10.90 53.71 3 1.41 10.07 63.78 1.41 10.07 63.78 4 1.00 7.20 70.98 5 .86 6.20 77.19 6 .73 5.27 82.46 7 .56 4.03 86.49 8 .50 3.60 90.10 9 .37 2.67 92.77 10 .34 2.46 95.24 11 .25 1.78 97.02 12 .21 1.52 98.55 13 .12 .87 99.43 14 .07 .56 100.00 extraction method: principal component analysis in addition to the total variance explained by the pca (table 3), outcomes relating to orthogonal rotation of the solution are further presented where rotated component the matrix shows component loadings for each variable or correlation between a variable and a component extracted from the data (table 4). four variables (tmpr, qual, cola, and trac) strongly loaded into component 1. when they were jointly considered, they seemed to address multi-sectoral coordination. the component was as a result labelled, "extent of multi-sectoral coordination" because underlying issues could be best explained using a multisectoral coordination approach. three variables (cmon, w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 55 trap, and enfo) that loaded to component 2 appeared to be addressing, "extent of surveillance" since the three identified variables may only become effective if adequate surveillance is guaranteed. three more variables (advi, trai, and susp) that strongly loaded into component 3 jointly addressed sensitization. because identified issues could be adequately addressed through enhanced sensitization. the component was thus labelled, "extent of sensitization". the identified three principal components (factors elucidating why nca was not successfully regulating the building construction industry) were further used as latent variables in structured equation modelling (sem) to test the significance of each component (latent variable) against the corresponding measured variables that loaded on them. this demonstrates the relationship between confirmatory factor analysis (cfa) and exploratory factor analysis (efa) (figure 2). table 4: rotated component matrix variable principal components 1 2 3 timely registration of construction projects (tmpr) .777 promote quality assurance (qual) .746 collaborating with other institutions (cola) .732 transparency in contractor registration (trac) .692 the capacity to monitor construction projects (cmon) .812 transparency in project registration (trap) .699 enforcement of regulations on construction (enfo) .680 advisory services to developers/contractors (advi) .824 training construction workers (trai) .801 suspension of non-complying contractors (susp) .719 rotation method: varimax with kaiser normalization figure 2 structural model of the three principal components the model shows the relationship between the three principal components (latent variables) and their respective measured variables, as well as the correlation between the principal components (figure 4). sem represents a statistical method that is used in developing and testing of causal models. it fundamentally represents a mixture of a method that incorporates both facets of cfa, path analysis and multiple regression analysis, and is extensively used by researchers in examining the operational association between measured variables and resultant latent concepts (loehlin, 2004). this technique was adopted because it has the advantage of approximating the interconnected and numerous dependency within a single line of inquiry. among the advantages of sem is its capability in modelling constructs as relevant latent variables. a latent variable is that variable which cannot be directly measured but customarily inferred by the covariances amongst two or more variables that are measured. according to loehlin (2004) and jensen and janes (2012), principal components act as the latent variables of a pca model. measured variables are variables that can be directly measured. they consist of data that has been collected by directly mapping into the constructs of interest. as a norm, sem usually begins with a given hypothesis which is signified as a model, followed by the execution of the key paradigms which are being examined with an instrument of measurement and after that, the model testing. in the current study, the hypothesis derived was that the three principal components (latent variables) that occasioned did not influence measured variables that loaded into each of them (figure 2 and table 5). as regards the first latent variable/principal component (multi-sectoral coordination), when it goes up by 1.000, tmpr, qual, cola, and trac respectively go up by 1.000, 1.038, 0.816 and 0.716, thus significantly predicting its four measured variables, p = .000, cr > 1.96. this suggests that if multi-sectoral coordination that is currently inadequate improves, it will contribute to an equal improvement in tmpr, qual, cola, and trac. the converse will follow if multi-sectoral co-ordination declines. concerning the second principal component (extent of surveillance), it was further demonstrated that when it goes up by one unit, cmon, trap, and enfo would respectively go up by 1.000, 0.985 and 1.493. as the case of multi-sectoral coordination, extent of surveillance also predicted its three variables (p = .000, cr > 1.96). this implies that an increase in the surveillance of building developments in kisii town would significantly promote the enforcement of applicable standards. equally, in the absence of adequate 56 w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 surveillance, unregulated building development would ensue at the detriment of effective development control. lastly, the third component (extent of sensitization) also significantly predicted its variables, p = .000, cr >1.96). hence, if sensitization increases by one unit, advi, trai, and susp will respectively increase by 1.000, 1.039, and .773. this connotes that the improvement in the sensitization of building contractors and their sensitization through training would lead to capacity building. therefore, providing an opportunity for reprimanding noncomplying contractors since most of them would be aware of the applicable standards within the construction industry. the model in the end passed the test for goodness of fit, where chi-square, χ2 = 55.594, df = 32, p = .006. table 5: regression weights and significance test for sem measured variable path direction latent variable/ component estimated (regression weights) critical ratio (cr) p tmpr <--1 1.000 .000 qual <--1 1.038 4.858 .000 cola <--1 .816 3.864 .000 trac <--1 .716 3.628 .000 cmon <--2 1.000 .000 trap <--2 .985 3.267 .000 enfo <--2 1.493 3.741 .000 advi <--3 1.000 .000 trai <--3 1.039 5.398 .000 susp <--3 .773 4.339 .000 given the observed relationships between each component and their respective measured variables, the model further tested the correlation between the three components. results indicated that the correlation between multi-sectoral coordination and extent of sensitization was positive and significant, r = .491, p = .024, the same applied to the relationship between the degree of surveillance and extent of sensitization, r = .521, p =. 014 and so was the case of multi-sectoral coordination and extent of surveillance, r = .543, p = .012. these relationships infer that an increase in multi-sectoral coordination would result in an improved sensitization of building contractors and developers; likewise, improved surveillance will enhance sensitization of contractors and developers. at the same time, enhanced multi-sectoral coordination leads to analogous improvement in surveillance. these are construed as essential tenets in containing the unplanned land-use change. the findings of this study align with that of gacheru (2015), which established that factors limiting regulation of contractors in kenya included inadequate human resource capacity, unsatisfactory enforcement of regulations and limited sensitization. the findings also agree with that of ofori-kuragu et al. (2016), who established that the fragmentation of stakeholders hinders regulation of the ghanaian construction industry. however, unlike gacheru (2015) and ofori-kuragu et al. (2016), the current study, through statistical quantifications determined the extent of association between key variables that impacts on the successful regulation of the building construction industry, therefore further contributing to the existing body of literature on the built environment. 7. conclusion and recommendations 7.1 conclusion sustainable urban development may not be fully attained in kenya if a lapse frequently occurs in the regulation of its vibrant construction industry. this study demonstrates that the barriers to the effective regulation of the building construction industry in the study area may be itemised as those induced by building contractors and those induced by nca as their regulator. in this case, factors influenced by nca comprised the low extent of multi-sectoral coordination, limited surveillance and inadequate sensitization of contractors and developers. conversely, factors induced by contractors included inconsistencies in the application of relevant laws, failure to get prerequisite approvals before commencing construction, disregard of planning standards and failure to involve relevant government departments in the inspection of building development during constructions. as regards the implication of research findings, the study has validated the theorised interplay between the critical factors that may directly influence the regulation of building construction industry. this, in turn, can serve a learning outcome in addition to providing insight into the quest for achieving sustainable regulation of the building construction industry for both developing and developed countries. although this paper examined key barriers to the effective regulation of the building construction industry, its limitation was that data collection and subsequent analysis focused on residential building developments. however, this gap provides an opportunity for further research with a possible interrogation on how concerned planning authorities also regulate the construction of other categories of building developments (such as commercial, educational, public purpose, and industrial), a tactic for promoting sustainable urban development, and recently, attaining the objectives of the emerging concept of a ‘smart city. 7.2 recommendations contractors should ensure that before the commencement of construction, their clients have obtained all applicable statutory approvals from respective approving authorities. w. o. omollo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 49-58 57 they should also ensure that the projects they are undertaking are supervised at all phases by relevant authorities. there is a need to consistently undertake enforcement and surveillance audits that would promote compliance with approved building regulations by developers in kisii town. to attain this inquest, the function of building development control should be decentralized to the location levels. this will make nca, and the county government of kisii have a direct presence at the neighbourhood levels leading to increased incidences in monitoring and enforcement. to actualise this strategy, nca and the county government should undertake regular public education campaigns targeting developers on the importance rather than punitive nature of building development control. additionally, the two lead agencies should jointly prepare comprehensive legislation on building development control through a participatory approach by engaging key stakeholders. this will make the "regulated" to own and directly participate in the regulation process. nca should organize regular training workshops for building contractors to deepen their understanding of the benefits of building development regulations, including applicable legislation in the built environment. all county government departments involved in the inspection of development projects should have joint inspection schedules to ensure uniformity in the enforcement of compliance. a coordinating committee should be established to harmonize various agencies (such as nema, nca and public health) that undertake building development control, thus eliminating duplication in enforcement efforts. as a long term strategy, the nca should be wound up and its functions transferred to the county governments because it duplicates their development control function, an exclusive function of the county governments in kenya. this is as provided for under part xi of the county governments act (2012) as further read with section 29 of the physical planning act of 1996. the county governments in kenya, through appropriate legislation, should, therefore, be further empowered to undertake the function of registration and accreditation of building contractors operating within their respective spatial jurisdictions. the penalties of not complying with building development control requirements under the physical planning act of 1996 should be reviewed upwards to deter 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(30 may 2019). yong, a., g., and pearce, s. 2013. a beginners ‘guide to factor analysis: focusing on exploratory factor analysis. tutorials in quantitative methods for psychology, 9 (2), 79-94. jcbm (2019) 3(1).8-17 organisational commitment of construction skilled workers in selected construction firms in nigeria d.o. aghimien1, o. a. awodele2, and c.s. maipompo3 1sustainable human settlement and construction research centre, faculty of engineering and the built environment, university of johannesburg, south africa. 2&3department of quantity surveying, federal university of technology, akure, ondo state, nigeria. received 9 december 2017; received in revised form 1 february 2018, 22 march 2018 and 16 september 2018; accepted 20 september 2018. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.481 abstract skilled construction workers are crucial to the successful delivery of construction projects. however, there have been reports of their shortage within the nigerian construction industry. ensuring commitment of the few available ones to their organisation is important as this is bound to influence the service delivery of these organisations. this paper presents the result of the assessment of the organisational commitment of skilled construction workers in abuja, nigeria. a quantitative survey design was adopted, and data were gathered from selected skilled construction workers in 31 construction companies registered with nigeria's federation of construction industry. organisational commitment scale was adopted in assessing the commitment of these set of workers, and data were harnessed through the use of a questionnaire. percentage, mean item score and kruskal-wallis h-test were used in analysing the data gathered. cronbach alpha test was also conducted to test the reliability of the research instrument. the study revealed that the common type of commitment exhibited by skilled construction workers is the continuance commitment. factors such as getting feedback from supervisors, payment received being equal to work done, and the availability of opportunities to grow, play a major role in the commitment type being exhibited. the practical implication of this result is that construction companies within the country need to improve in the aspect of human resource management to attain better commitment and at the same time improve their productivity. it is believed that the findings of this study will assist construction organisations in adopting the right method that will help enhance the organisational commitment of their skilled workers. keywords: construction workers, nigeria, organisational commitment, skilled workers, workers satisfaction. 1. introduction in the delivery of construction projects, there is the need for labour (skilled and unskilled). construction firms rely heavily on these set of workers in order to carry out their activities. according to olofinji (2016), skilled construction workers play an important role in the survival and growth of the construction industry since the practical completion of projects depend largely on them. despite the obvious importance of these set of workers, the shortage of same has been evident in the construction industry of most developing countries around the world. it is believed that the construction industry appears not to be appealing to youths. young people tend to pursue college degrees more, with lesser desire to take up blue 1 corresponding author. email address: aghimiendouglas@yahoo.com collar jobs (tucker et al., 1999). reason for this, among other factors, can be the poor organisational investment and lack of promotion avenues within most construction companies (carley et al., 2003). in nigeria, although the country as a whole is blessed with a skilled workforce, the situtation within its construction industry is ironic. while the nigerian construction industry (nci) is believed to be one of the highest employers of labour, the industry is still faced with problems of shortage in technically skilled workers (bilau et al., 2015). commitment which according to nehmeh (2009), is as an attachment or loyalty within an organisation, can go both ways. this can be a worker's commitment to the organisation or the organisation's commitment to its workers. while it is assumed that workers need to show university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm--------mailto:aghimiendouglas@yahoo.com d.o. aghimien et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 8-17 9 some sense of attachment or loyalty to their organisation, they also need reassurance that their jobs are secure. although this present study focused on worker's commitment to their organisation, issues surrounding the organisation's commitment to their workers can be seen in most human resource management (hrm) studies. the choice of basing this study on workers commitment to their organisation is premised on the fact that skilled workers are important to the successful delivery of construction projects, and their shortage is evident within the nci. thus, it is important to ascertain the commitment of the available ones to their organisations. the commitment of a worker, according to miller (2003), can be described as that point where such worker identifies with the goals of his or her organisation and strives to maintain affiliation with such organisation. therefore, skilled workers commitment in the context of this study is the state or level of identification of these set of workers with their respective organisations and their desire to continue in that organisation. bhatti and qureshi (2007) submitted that the major issue of most organisations is the implementation strategies that could help the development of their human resources. in construction, ibrahim et al., (2010) noted that the key problem in the achievement of construction demands is related to human resources within the industry. this shows that there is the need to adequately ascertain the factors that influence the desire of construction workers to stay or leave a particular organisation, in order to effectively manage the available workforce within the organisation and achieve desired commitment and optimum worker's productivity. this study identifies with the fact that various research has been conducted on organisational commitment of workers in most sectors and even the construction industry (abiola-falemu, 2013; ashraf et al., 2012; gangai and agrawal, 2015; girth et al., 2013; haq et al., 2014; luchak, et al., 2008; norizan, 2012; oyewobi et al., 2012; salim et al., 2007). however, not much has surfaced regarding the commitment of skilled construction workers whose impact in successful project delivery is crucial and which unfortunately is becoming scarce in the nci. it is in light of this that this study assessed the commitment of skilled construction workers in selected construction firms in nigeria, through the identification of the type of commitment exhibited by this set of workers, and the factors influencing their commitment. this was done towards providing possible recommendations that will improve their commitment and by so doing improving the construction firm's project delivery. 2. literature review 2.1 skilled construction workers in the construction industry the impact of the availability of skilled construction workers on construction projects, coupled with the expectation from construction contractors to deliver projects of desired quality, cost and on schedule, has been sufficiently reported in literature (institute of management and administration [ioma] 2005; medugu et al., 2011; olomolaiye and ogunlana, 1989; ugheru, 2006). studies have also shown that skilled construction workers contribute greatly to the successful delivery of the end products of the construction industry (medugu et al., 2011). according to bustani (2000), for the industry to be effective in the delivery of its services, the quality and availability of its skilled workforce are important. the insufficiency of technically qualified personnel in the face of increased demand has led to a situation where the big contractors are considering investing in training and development (t&d) of their workforce. this t&d can be seen as a way of garnering more workers' commitment to their organisation (owoyemi et al., 2011). in an industry where the shortage of skilled workers has been identified as a challenge (bilau et al., 2015), the commitment of the available ones to their organisation is crucial. 2.2. organisational commitment often commitment is described as that force of cohesion between an individual and some course of action relevant to the attainment of one or more goals (cohen, 2003). organisational commitment can be the commitment from an organisation to the employee or commitment from the employee to the organisation. this study, however, focused on the latter. miller (2003) opined that organisational commitment could be seen as “a state in which an employee identifies with a particular organisation and its goal and wishes to maintain membership in the organisation”. arnold et al. (2005) further stated that organisational commitment is that relative strength an individual exhibits when they indentify with and are involved in, the activities of an organistion. thus, when an employee is committed to an organisation, there is every tendency that such employee will not want to leave. hence, there is a sense of responsibility and attachment to an organisation by a committed employee. the most popular method of ascertaining the type of commitment of employees is the meyer et al. (1993) organisational commitment scale (ocs). this approach is the most widely accepted conceptualisation of organisational commitment and has been adopted for over 20 years (cohen, 2003). it sees commitment from three facets. one is that commitment can be affective in nature. also, commitment can be continuance or normative. 2.2.1 types of commitment cohen (2003) viewed affective commitment as a positive affection towards an organisation. this positive affection is reflected in the employee’s desire to see the organisation succeed. affective commitment can also be seen as the emotional attachment an employee has to his/her organisation. it is believed that employees that exhibit this kind of commitment remain in their organisation out of their own volition not just as a ‘means to an end’ (allen and meyer, 1997). this form of commitment is based solely on individual’s desire. for continuance commitment, meyer et al. (1993) describe this as an individual’s knowledge of the price they will have to pay for leaving an organisation. people who exhibit this commitment type remain in their organisation not because they want to, but because they need to. they find it difficult to leave their organisation due to the fear of the unknown or having few or no other option (nagar, 2012). normative commitment according to antilla 10 d.o. aghimien et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 8-17 (2014) is the feeling of obligation to stay within an organisation. as a result of this feeling, an employee will remain with an oragnisation because he/she feels they obligated to do so. it is believed that the experience of workers within and outside the organisation plays a vital role in the exhibition of this type of commitment. this means that normative commitment of an employee emanates from both the relationship they have within the organisation and that which they experience within their immediate family and society (allen and meyer 1990; markovits et al., 2013). 2.2.2 factors influencing skilled workers commitment several factors influence the type of commitment exhibited by an employee. haq et al., (2014) opined that factors such as job conditions, supervisor’s support, rewards, work-family support, and career growth opportunities affect the commitment of employees to an organisation. this implies that if an organisation wants to have a higher commitment from its workforce, these outlined factors should be improved and in effect, employees, in turn, will exhibit such behaviours as beneficial to the organisation. bhavna and swati (2012) outlined some factors that influence employee's commitment. these factors are “the quality of working relationships, workplace leadership, having a say, clear values, being safe, the built environment, recruitment, pay, and conditions, getting feedback, autonomy and uniqueness, a sense of ownership and identity, learning, passion, having fun, and community connections”. antilla (2014) assessed the components of organisational commitment and concluded that the significant factors affecting organisational commitment could be company related factors, community-related factors, and work characteristics factors. alsiewi and agil (2014) examined job satisfaction influence on affective commitment and observed that most of the job satisfaction variables which include; job security, pay, and benefits, feelings of satisfaction towards teaching staff and principals, growth and development opportunities and relevance and meaning of job have a significant relationship with affective commitment. adeyemo and aremu (1999) analysed the effects of some multiple predictors on satisfaction and commitment of workers. the study concluded that the variety in skills and ambiguity in the role of workers are best determinantes of satisfaction, while the kind of leadership within the organisation coupled with the organisation's age are best determinantes of commitment. adeyemo (2000) observed that there exist a positive relationship between education and organisational commitment. this was rather in contrast to earlier findings of ellemer et al. (1998) which revealed that background variables such as gender, level of education, or team size have no significant relationship to any of the three forms of commitment an employee can exhibit. similarly, irving et al. (1997) found that age has nothing to do with the kind of commitment an employee will have to his/her organisation. this submission, however, contradicts meyer and allen (1984) submission that age influences commitment. on the issue of gender, mathieu and zajac (1990) reported its relationship to organisational commitment. this was further confirmed by irving et al., (1997)’s findings which revealed that out of a group of people sampled, men had a higher level of commitment than the women. 3. research methodology this study assessed the commitment of skilled construction workers in selected construction firms in nigeria, using abuja as the study area. the choice of this area is premised on the fact that abuja is one of the metropolitan cities in nigeria and it is also the administrative centre of the country. the area has lots of construction projects being executed on a daily basis, and as such has attracted, many construction organisations with most of them having their head office or branches there. a survey approach was adopted, and quantitative data were gathered from skilled construction workers in 31 construction firms registered with nigeria's federation of construction industry which is the largest body of construction contractors in the country (aje et al., 2015). the choice of a quantitative questionnaire survey was based on the fact that the study hoped to solicit responses from a different set of skilled workers within these identified organisations. as a result, a qualitative study through an interview or other approaches would have been time-consuming and almost practically impossible to achieve. tan (2011) described the questionnaire survey as a simple survey approach which can cover a wider range of audience within a short period. also, ackroyd and hughes (1981) described the questionnaire as a tool which can achieve quantifiability and objectiveness in research, hence its adoption in this study. the questionnaire used was designed in two parts. part a dwelt on the background information of respondents, while part b dwelt on the objective of the study. the objective one which was to determine the type of commitment exhibit by skilled construction workers in the study area was assessed using meyer et al. (1993)’s ocs. abiola-falemu (2013) and jena (2015) adopted a similar approach in determining the commitment of workers in nigeria and india. the ocs employs the use of specific questions relating to the three major commitment types and respondents were asked to rate these questions on a 5-point likert scale. the second objective aimed at identifying the factors influencing the commitment of these set of workers was also assessed on a 5-point likert scale based on their level of significance, with 5 being very high, 4 being high, 3 being average, 2 being low and 1 being very low. while some of the respondents were able to fill the administered questionnaire themselves, others could not as a result of their lack of formal education. in this case, the researcher personally read the questions, and the respondents gave their answers which were adequately filled on their behalf. a total of 93 questionnaires were distributed (3 each for the identified 31 construction firm), with 71 retrieved. this shows a response rate of 76%, and this is far above the usual response rate of 20-30% for questionnaire surveys in construction management studies, as suggested by akintoye (2000) and moser and kalton (1999). the reliability of the instrument used was tested using cronbach's alpha test. the normal range of cronbach d.o. aghimien et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 8-17 11 alpha value is between 0.0 and + 1.0, and the higher the value, the higher the degree of internal consistency. the alpha values of 0.717 and 0.911 were derived for the type of commitment, and factors influencing the type of commitment of skilled workers respectively. this result shows that the questionnaire use is reliable since the alpha values are closer to 1.0. data analysis was done using frequency and percentage in analysing the background information of the respondents. kruskal-wallis h-test which is a non-parametric test used in testing the relationship in the view of three or more groups of respondents was employed in testing the relationship in the view of all the various types of skilled workers as regards their commitment types and the factors influencing the type of commitment they exhibit. mean item score was further employed in ranking the various commitment types and factors based on the respondents' selection. 4. findings 4.1 background information the result in table 1 shows the characteristics of the respondents sampled. from the table it is evident that skilled male workers dominate the assessed construction organisations. most of these skilled workers fall within the age range of 31 to 40 with an average age of 32 years recorded. concerning employment types, most skilled workers (60.6%) work for their respective construction organisation on a contract basis, while some (32.4%) are employed on a part-time basis. only 5.6% are fulltime workers for their respective organisations. this implies that construction organisations in the study area rarely employ permanent skilled workers; instead, they rely more on hiring workers on a temporary basis. more response was gathered from skilled workers involved in masonry (22.5%), carpentry (19.7%) and electrical works (12.7), most of whom do not have any formal education (47.9%). however, 42.3% possess ordinary level (o' level), while 9.9% possess a national diploma. the highest years of working experience of the respondents fall between 6 to 10 years (26.8%) and 16 to 20 years (23.9%). on average, the respondents have 13 years of working experience, and an average of 4 years working with their present organisation. based on the background information of the respondents, it is evident that most skilled workers sampled are matured in terms of age and working experience to give reasonable answers to the questions of the research. table 1: background information of respondents category classification frequency percentage gender male female 69 2 97.2 2.8 age 18-30 31-40 41-60 27 36 8 38.0 50.7 11.3 employment type full time part time contract total 4 24 43 71 5.6 33.8 60.6 100.0 area of specialization masonry carpentry electrical metal-works plumbing tiling painting roofing 16 14 9 7 7 7 6 5 22.5 19.7 12.7 9.9 9.9 9.9 8.5 7.0 academic qualification none o’level ond 34 30 7 47.9 42.3 9.9 years of experience 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 above 20 8 19 14 17 13 11.3 26.8 19.7 23.9 18.3 years with the present organisation 0-5 6-10 total 55 16 71 77.5 22.5 100.0 key: o’level: ordinary level certificate; ond: ordinary national diploma 4.2. type of commitment exhibited by skilled construction workers in assessing the type of commitment skilled workers exhibit, some commitment statements were identified from existing literature and respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with these statements as they apply to them. these statements were asked in no particular order, and no heading was given in the questionnaire. this was done in a bid to avoid bias in the choice of respondents' response. however, table 2 shows these commitment statements grouped under their respective commitment types during analysis. the result in table 3 shows the different commitment types as rated by the respondents. since these skilled workers have different employment types which include full-time, parttime and contract, it is believed that their type of commitment may vary. based on this assumption, kruskal-wallis h-test which is a non-parametric test was adopted to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in the response of the three different groups of respondents as regards these commitment variables. this test compares the mean value of the groups and converts the scores on the continuous variable to ranks, and determines the significant difference between the groups. it gives a chi-square value and a significant p-value. when the derived p-value is lower than the predetermined significance value of 0.05, it means that there is a significant difference in the mean value of the groups (pallant, 2005). in the case of this study, this implies that there is a significant difference in the view of respondents working on full-time, part-time, and contract basis. however, the reverse is the case if the derived p-value is higher than the predetermined significance value of 0.05. the result revealed that under the affective commitment, six out of the eight assessed commitment variables have a mean score of above average of 3.0. the commitment variable of skilled workers having similar values with their organisation ranked top with a mean value of 3.51. kruskal-wallis test shows that there is no significant difference in the response of respondents from these different employment types, as a significant p-value of 12 d.o. aghimien et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 8-17 above 0.05 was derived for all assessed variables under this commitment group. this means that there is a unified view among the respondents as to how they exhibit this commitment type. under the continuance commitment, all the seven assessed commitment variables have a mean value of above average of 3.0. the most significant of these variables are; the fear of what might happen if they quit their job without having another one lined up and the feeling of having few options to consider before leaving their present organisation with a mean value of 3.82 and 3.63 respectively. kruskal-wallis test also revealed that there is no significant difference in the view of the three categories of respondents. a significant p-value of above 0.05 was derived for all commitment statement under this group. hence there is a convergent view among the respondents as to them exhibiting this commitment type. for normative commitment, the result shows that all five assessed commitment variables have a mean value of above average of 3.0. however, the believe that a person must always be loyal to his/her organisation, was ranked top with a mean value of 3.58, while “things were better in the days when people stayed with one organisation for most of their career life” was ranked as the least with a mean value of 3.00. kruskal-wallis test revealed that there is no significant difference in the view of the three categories of respondents as a p-value of above 0.05 was derived for all commitment statement under this group. thus, the ranking of these variables can be relied upon as a convergent view was evident among the different group of respondents. table 2: types of commitment assessed types of commitment code affective my personal values with that of this organisation are similar aff1 i enjoy discussing my organisation with people. aff2 i will be happy to end my career in this organisation. aff3 i am inspired to perform to my very best in this organisation. aff4 i feel emotionally attached to this organisation. aff5 the organisation makes me feel like i am part of a family. aff6 i treat this organisation's problems as my own. aff7 i have a strong sense of belonging here in this organisation. aff8 continuance i am scared of quiting my job now as i do not have another one lined up. con1 my options are limited if i decide to leave this organisation. con2 i fear if i leave this organisation i will face scarcity of available alternatives. con3 i feel leaving this organisation now will disrupt my life plans and activities. con4 even if i wanted to leave this organisation right now, it will be difficult for me. con5 i fear that i might not get another organisation that will give me the same benefits i get from this organisation. con6 right now, staying with this organisation is a matter of necessity. con7 normative i believe workers need to be loyal to their organisation. norm1 leaving this organisation wont be the right thing to do, even if i got a better offer norm2 i was taught to believe in the value of remaining loyal to one organisation. norm3 i think people these days move from company to company too often. norm4 i believe it will be better if worker remains with one organisation for most of their career life. norm5 kruskal-wallis h-test also shows that on the overall, there is no significant difference in the commitment type exhibited by the different skilled construction workers employed on a full time, part time and contract basis, as a significant p-value of above 0.05 was derived for the three commitment types assessed (affective = 0.635, continuance = 0.455, normative = 0.970). this result implies that the type of commitment being exhibited by skilled construction workers in the study area is not dependent on the basis on which they were employed. looking at the group mean of each commitment type, it is evident that skilled construction workers mostly exhibit continuance commitment as it has the highest group mean of 3.45. this is followed by normative commitment with a group mean of 3.30, while the least exhibited commitment type is affective commitment with a group mean of 3.11. table 3: types of commitment exhibited by skilled construction workers overall kruskal-wallis commitment mean rank chi-sq. sig. affective aff1 3.51 1 0.569 0.753 aff2 3.39 2 2.720 0.257 aff3 3.30 3 2.646 0.266 aff4 3.17 4 1.018 0.601 aff5 3.08 5 0.105 0.949 d.o. aghimien et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 8-17 13 aff6 3.01 6 3.180 0.204 aff7 2.79 7 0.200 0.905 aff8 2.65 8 5.600 0.061 group mean 3.11 0.910 0.635 continuance con1 3.82 1 2.567 0.277 con2 3.68 2 1.768 0.413 con3 3.48 3 0.055 0.973 con4 3.39 4 1.275 0.529 con5 3.37 5 2.119 0.347 con6 3.31 6 0.633 0.729 con7 3.09 7 0.814 0.676 group mean 3.45 1.574 0.455 normative norm1 3.58 1 0.223 0.895 norm2 3.41 2 0.414 0.813 norm3 3.31 3 1.781 0.410 norm4 3.20 4 0.793 0.673 norm5 3.00 5 0.409 0.815 group mean 3.30 0.610 0.970 4.3. factors influencing the commitment of skilled construction workers result in table 4 shows the rating of the identified factors influencing the commitment of skilled construction workers and their respective significant p-value derived from kruskal-wallis h-test. from the table, it is evident that all the seventeen assessed factors have a mean value of above average of 3.0. this implies that to a considerable extent they all tend to influence the commitment of these set of workers. chief of these factors are getting feedback from supervisors, payment received is equal to work done, and the availability of opportunities to grow, with a mean value of 3.92, 3.66 and 3.58 respectively. the least rank factor is the social relationship among workers with a mean value of 3.02. kruskal-wallis h-test also revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in the view of the different respondents with regards to the significance of the identified factors as a p-value of above 0.05 was derived. this result implies that irrespective of the type of employment, the factors influencing the commitment of skilled construction workers within the construction industry are the same. thus, construction companies will do well to understand these factors and improve where necessary. table 4: factors influencing the commitment of skilled construction workers overall kruskal-wallis factors mean rank chi.-sq. sig. getting feedback from supervisors 3.92 1 1.578 0.454 payment received is equal to work done (fair wages) 3.66 2 1.243 0.537 availability of opportunities to grow 3.58 3 1.400 0.497 leadership support in job performance 3.48 4 0.295 0.863 recognition of workers performance/efforts 3.42 5 2.376 0.305 recognition of important holidays by the organisation 3.41 6 1.852 0.396 availability of incentives such as bonus and payment of overtime 3.41 6 1.243 0.537 leadership style that enhances job satisfaction 3.37 8 1.491 0.475 company policy 3.37 8 1.130 0.568 working environment 3.34 10 0.898 0.638 having a sense of responsibility 3.32 11 2.051 0.359 avenue for training and staff development 3.24 12 0.859 0.651 having a balance between organisation values and personal values 3.20 13 0.574 0.751 the benefit of healthcare services 3.18 14 2.117 0.347 good communication structure within the organisation 3.14 15 3.044 0.218 opportunity to balance working life with family life 3.09 16 1.023 0.600 social relationship among workers 3.02 17 5.126 0.077 5. discussions findings revealed that the construction organisations in the study area rarely employ permanent skilled workers; instead, they rely more on hiring workers on a temporary basis. this might be associated with the fact that most of the construction companies in the country are the small and medium size (ogbu, 2017) and they cannot finance projects independently before client's financial contribution (odediran et al., 2012). this financial constraint is bound to affect their ability to keep skilled workers on a permanent basis, since they may not have 14 d.o. aghimien et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 8-17 many construction projects to handle. however, findings revealed that the type of organisational commitment exhibited by skilled construction workers is not dependent on their type of employment; either on a permanent, parttime or contract basis. this result follows the line of some past researches (ellemer et al., 1998; irving et al., 1997) that have discovered that background/demographic information such as gender, age, team size, level of education, do not have any significant relationship with the commitment type being exhibited. the major type of organisational commitment exhibited by skilled construction workers in the nci is the continuance and normative type of commitment. meyer et al. (1993) have stated that continuance commitment is an individual's awareness of the costs of leaving the organisation. according to nagar (2012) workers with a high level of continuance commitment remain a member of the organisation because they need to. it has been established that when workers exhibit continuance commitment, they do not remain in their organisation because they are satisfied; rather they do it just because they need to, and they might have no other option (gangai and agrawal 2015; lumley et al., 2011; meyer et al., 1993). this type of commitment being majorly exhibited by skilled construction workers within the study area is not the best as the organisation might not get the best from these set workers. according to meyer and allen (1997), the affective type of commitment motivates employees to higher levels of performance than continuance or normative commitment. unfortunately, this commitment type is the least exhibited by these set of construction workers. this result is in contrast with the findings of jena (2015) which revealed that workers in ferroalloy companies in odisha, india exhibit more affective and normative commitment than continuance commitment. this disparity in result further emphasises the need for improvement in the nci. findings of this study also revealed that the significant factors influencing the organisational commitment of skilled construction workers are getting feedback from supervisor, payment received isequal to work done, and availability of opportunities to grow. this result is in line with bhavna and swati (2012) submission that factors such as pay and conditions, and getting feedback, are crucial in achieving high employees' commitment. martin and root (2008) observed that workers generally value certain conditions of work, and when these conditions are met, they will be more satisfied and committed, with less intention to leave the organisation. one of these conditions is their payment. lumley et al. (2011) submitted that workers pay is a significant determinant in explaining workers' overall commitment. mathieu and zajac (1990) have indicated that there is a positive relationship between pay and commitment of workers. according to spector (1997), an unfair payment is bound to lead to demotivation of workers. findings of this study also corroborate haq et al., (2014) submission that factors such as growth opportunities affect the commitment of employees to an organisation. oyewobi et al. (2012) discovered that quantity surveyors in nigeria are more committed to their jobs when there are adequate opportunities for advancement. this finding is not peculiar to this set of construction professionals alone, as this current study has been able to reveal that opportunities for growth is also important to skilled workers and it has a considerable influence on their commitment to their establishment. 6. conclusion this study set out to assess the organisational commitment of skilled construction workers in the nci. using a survey of selected skilled workers in abuja, the study has been able to ascertain the type of commitment being exhibited by these set of workers, and the factors influencing their commitment. based on the findings, the study concludes that the type of employment of skilled workers (full time, part-time or contract) has no significant relationship with their commitment type. irrespective of the type of employment arrangement they have with their respective organisations, their commitment type is the same. as such, construction organisations within the country will do well by treating workers’ commitment issues within their organisations in like manner. the common type of commitment exhibited by skilled construction workers is the continuance commitment. the most significant factors influencing their commitment are; getting feedback from supervisors, payment received is equal to work done, and the availability of opportunities to grow. this, therefore, implies that construction companies within the country need to improve in the aspect of managing their human resources to attain better commitment and at the same time improve their productivity. this can be achieved by ensuring that giving feedback is a priority to site supervisors, as this has a huge tendency in influencing the commitment of skilled workers either negatively or positively. also creating some job enrichment schemes and ensuring workers get fair wages is imperative if the commitment level of these workers is to change from being continuance to affective. at least the minimum standard obtainable for wages should be given to workers as this will help boost their moral to perform and increase their commitment to the organisation. finally, the need to create opportunities for growth for these workers is essential. occasional promotion of deserving workers, from ordinary site workers to site supervisors, can go a long way in increasing their commitment. it is believed that the findings of this study will assist construction organisations within the country in doing appropriate planning and developing significant methods that will assist them in enhancing their organisational commitment of their skilled workers and by so doing increasing organisational performance and workers productivity. however, the major limitation of this study lies in the fact that the study was limited to the commitment of skilled construction workers in construction firms in abuja, nigeria. the findings can therefore not be generalised to other parts of the country, as situations and organisation policies might differ between regions of the country. therefore, further studies can be conducted by appraising the commitment of skilled construction workers in construction firms in other areas or regions within the country in order to compare results. also, more work can be done by assessing the effect of d.o. aghimien et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 8-17 15 the commitment type exhibited by skilled construction workers, on their job performance. references abiola-falemu, j. o. 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(2006). training of craftsmen for nigeria construction industry. journal of the nigerian association of engineering craftsmen, 5, 9-10. jcbm (2020) 4(1). 24-33 environmental and socio-economic impacts of ojodu-berger road upgrade, lagos, nigeria w.a. alade 1 1department of urban and regional planning, university of lagos, lagos, nigeria received 14 june 2019; received in revised form 1 october 2019 and 12 december 2019; accepted 20 december 2019. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.785 abstract extensive road project in large cities produces diverse impacts. this study attempts an assessment of the environmental and socio-economic effects of a recent road upgrade, the mitigating measures of adverse effects experienced and their effectiveness in ojodu berger community, a major transport node in lagos, southwestern nigeria. using a survey research design through questionnaire administration, 120 respondents comprising of 50 residents, 40 traders and 30 transport operators were sampled using the purposive sampling technique. the relative significance index (rsi) of project impacts was measured using 27 variables as identified in the literature and general observation of situations in the project environment before the survey. on a 5-point likert scale at the pre-construction, construction and post-construction phase of the project. the study reveals poor environmental conditions at the pre-construction phase, which became escalated in the construction phase; noise pollution is the most significant impact (rsi = 4.36). at the post-construction phase, encroachment on pedestrian facilities is the most significant impact (rsi = 4.20). socio-economic impacts such as increased rental value, unemployment and displacement of businesses were also significant. the mean index (mi) of 3.14 for the construction phase impacts was the highest compared to 3.00 at the pre-construction phase and 3.02 at the post-construction phase. mitigating measures against adverse impacts were both effective and ineffective, while some adverse impacts were not mitigated. there was no clear evidence that an impact study was done before project implementation. the study recommended strong government commitment to environmental and social impacts assessment of road development, more robust stakeholders' engagement for the formulation of strategies and measures to address the adverse impacts of similar projects in the future. keywords: construction, environmental, impacts, social, upgrade. 1. introduction the expansion and provision of road infrastructure around the world have been unprecedented in the last two decades (alamgir et al., 2018). since 2000, the length of official roads has increased by 12 million kilometres worldwide, and it is expected that there will be a further increase of about 25 million kilometres to be built by the year 2050 (dulac, 2013). this massive expansion in road infrastructure provision can be attributed to governments' set vision to make public, economic and social services physically more accessible to all the people in the rural and urban areas around the world (era, 2012; arethun and bhatta, 2012). provision of access routes has higher potentials for far-reaching implications on the bio-physiochemical and socio-economic environment of the host 1 corresponding author. email address: aalade@unilag.edu.ng community as well as the living conditions of dwellers (soneye, 2007). around 90% of all new infrastructure projects are occurring or expected to occur in developing nations of the world (dulac, 2013). in africa, the 35 major 'development corridors' being planned or currently in progress would crisscross the continent, collectively exceeding 53,000 km in length (laurance et al., 2015). roads that are effectively located and constructed can provide positive outcomes for economic growth and social integration, and access to larger urban markets for local producers (bryceson et al., 2008). on the contrary, roads that are poorly planned or executed can create numerous environmental (lawrence et al., 2015), economic (collier et al., 2015), and socio-political problems (bambach and mitchell, 2015). for example, a university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.785 mailto:aalade@unilag.edu.ng 24 w.a. alade. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 proposed 'superhighway' in nigeria would have cut through much of the remaining habitat, allowing the government to seize extensive traditional communityowned lands while providing questionable economic benefits (mahmoud et al., 2017). in the last four decades, there has been a global concern for sustainable development with environmental protection as one of its primary focus. this is to ensure that adverse impacts arising from physical developments such as road construction in cities are adequately managed. in nigeria, there have been remarkable improvements in the development of road infrastructure since the national oil boom of the early 1970s (soneye, 2010). the impacts of these road projects are not only permanent but irreversible (ojo, 1988). however, these impacts are hardly monitored for necessary action due to limited planning consideration and institutional gridlocks amongst regulatory agencies in the decision-making process (soneye, 2010) coupled with a dearth of required records and analytical tools for operations. this trend is against global practices of sustainable development. this study explores the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of road upgrade in ojodu berger, a nodal community in lagos, nigeria based on local perception to provide information on the effects of these projects before, during and after implementation and using the outcome to influence the direction of similar projects in the future. preliminary studies revealed that the project lacked an environmental impact study, hence, the impacts before, during and after construction and the mitigating measures and their effectiveness were investigated. 2. the study area lagos is the most populous city in nigeria and third in africa after cairo and kinshasa. the population is currently estimated at 23million people which is approximately 11.5% of the country’s population. the vehicle population of lagos is about 3 million and about 93% of passenger and goods movement is by road. over 95% of the public transport system is controlled by the informal sector (lasg, 2019). ojodu-berger, the study area is a nodal community and situated along lagosibadan expressway at the northern boundary of the metropolis and lagos state. this location makes the community a significant transport and commercial node mixed with residential areas. it is the first drop-off point for people coming into lagos from other parts of the country. this situation puts much pressure on the community in the form of heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic leading to congestion on the lagos-ibadan expressway and vehicular/pedestrian conflicts in the commercial and terminal areas. besides, many cases of road traffic accidents are recorded in the community. the haphazard land use structure, weak planning control of commercial and road terminal activities, and the absence of pedestrian facilities for commuters transferring from one side of the lagos-ibadan expressway to the other compound the chaotic situation and therefore necessitates the upgrade of roads and intersections connecting to the expressway for good traffic flow. the construction of road terminals and an extensive pedestrian bridge were also done to inject sanity for proper management of traffic in the neighbourhood. based on preliminary findings, there was no evidence of a detailed environmental impact study on the project. besides, the researcher observed at the construction phase of the projects that mitigation efforts adopted by the contractor to address some of the visible adverse impacts were inadequate and uncoordinated. this situation provides the basis for this study. source: google map (2017) figure1: location of project area within lagos megacity 3. literature review 3.1 environmental impacts of road projects the construction of roads can affect biodiversity both directly, as an immediate consequence; or indirectly, as a result of human activities that are facilitated by new roads (trombulak and frissell, 2000; laurance et al., 2009). these direct effects can be in the form of vehicle and wildlife collisions (clevenger et al., 2003), reduced reproductive capacity of sensitive species as a result of chronic road noise (kociolek et al., 2011) and behavioural avoidance of roads by endangered animal species (whitworth et al., 2015). besides, roads can also function as barriers limiting the movements of animals between various habitats and territories. road infrastructure can also produce impacts that are beneficial to the sustainable development of countries and cities. the benefits from efficient road transport are felt at all levels of the society, directly or indirectly, such as to include improved national economy, social income, wealth and job creation, health care, public transport and general service delivery. improvement of all these areas is desirable for the current national aspirations, including inter-sectoral growth collaborations (perkins, 2011). the attainment of the sustainable development goals by 2030 is heavily reliant on the provision of infrastructure, efficient road network being the key unit. development of new roads and improvement of existing facilities have potentially adverse effects on the physical environment and social well-being of the communities as well as natural habitats. among the potential negative impacts from road construction projects could include: environmental pollution from construction activities, the risk to health and safety of the residents and employees, increased surface runoff, socio-cultural changes including demolition of structures, displacement w.a. alade./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 25 of human settlement/commercial centres, increased traffic, increased ambient air pollution, increased potential for road accidents, flooding and associated disasters among other impacts. other anticipated impacts from road projects are the destruction of land, vegetation, change in land use pattern (wegener, 2004), and possible interference with natural eco-balance. 3.2 socio-economic effects of road projects the proponents of road projects frequently portray their proposed projects as a panacea for many social aspirations (laurance et al., 2014). in most cases, however, the broad societal risks that new roads can create are rarely identified or weighted adequately (laurance et al., 2015). the construction of roads in remote areas, for example, can lead to increases in illicit logging, mining, poaching, smuggling and drug production (mcsweeney et al., 2014). such practices can exacerbate environmental and social problems, defraud governments of tax and royalty revenues, and require increased expenditures for monitoring and law enforcement (asner et al., 2013). during the initial phases of development, real or perceived inadequacies in community consultation or forced land reclamations can be flash-points for conflict. community dissatisfaction may be aroused if benefits from roads are distributed inequitably, such as the inadequate provision of employment opportunities for residents or perceived government corruption. road projects in frontier areas commonly lead to an influx of migrant workers or colonists, with potentially adverse impacts on local inhabitants (suarez et al., 2009). among the undesirable effects are increased demands for ‘immoral’ services such as prostitution and black-market products (clements et al., 2014), an increase in sexually transmitted infections (carswell, 1987) and an erosion of traditional social structures (rudel, 2005). such challenges can provoke community conflict, potentially delaying road development or increasing its economic costs. some frontier communities living in the aftermath of new roads are highly polarized between ‘locals’ and ‘migrants’ (colombijn, 2002). social risks do not end once a road project has been completed. for instance, vehicle crashes have substantial socio-economic impacts, averaging 3.3% of total gdp in high-income countries and at least 1.1 to 2.9% of total gdp in lower-income countries (wijnen and stipdonk, 2016). new roads act as invasion corridors, facilitating incursions of human and animal pathogens and disease vectors (laurance et al., 2009). people living near roads in india, brazil, and uganda have reported increased incidences of dengue fever, malaria and hiv, respectively (carswell, 1987). exotic plants and animals, including many species deleterious to humans or agriculture, often use road verges to invade new lands. little fire ants (wasmannia auropunctata), for example, invade 60 times faster along logging roads in african rainforests than in undisturbed forests; the intense stings from this species repel and even kill livestock, wildlife and people (walsh et al., 2004). for indigenous groups in remote areas, new roads can have irrevocable effects (colombijn, 2002). roads have decimated some indigenous populations via introduced diseases and forced or voluntary migration (koji and hoban, 1997). in the 1970s, the construction of the transamazon highway led to the deaths of 45% of one indigenous group in a single year (hecht and cockburn, 2010). roads penetrating tribal territories can lead to an influx of non-indigenous squatters and land speculators seeking to appropriate land titles. additional impacts such as alcohol abuse, prostitution, illegal mining and social domination by colonists can arise (singleton et al., 2004). roads penetrating remote areas are often perceived as drivers of increased aggression, lawlessness and other 'frontier society' behaviour (mcsweeney et al., 2014). transportation projects can take many forms (oecd, 2002). according to banister and berechman (2000), transportation developments that have taken place since the beginning of the industrial revolution have been linked to growing economic opportunities. at each stage of human societal development, a particular transport mode has been developed or adapted. however, it has been observed that throughout history that no single transport has been solely responsible for economic growth. instead, modes have been linked with the direction and the geographical setting in which growth was taking place. for instance, major flows of international migration that occurred since the 18th century were linked with the expansion of international and continental transport systems (wanjiku, 2014). roads are a critical enabling condition for improving living conditions in rural areas. however, the distribution of socio-economic benefits resulting from a rural road is a separate issue, and there are no guarantees or inherent mechanisms to ensure that these benefits will be distributed equitably between the poor and the non-poor in communities (asian development bank, 2006). road construction activities themselves have been found to generate significant economic growth. according to the european investment bank's (eib) 2002 study "contribution of major road and rail infrastructure projects to european development", out of 14 road infrastructure construction projects, ten had a return on investment (roi) of at least 13%, and only one resulted in a net loss. socio-economic impact assessment focuses on evaluating the impacts the development has on community social and economic well-being (edwards, 2000). this analysis relies on both quantitative and qualitative measures of impacts. development impacts are generally evaluated in terms of changes in community demographics, housing, employment and income, and aesthetic qualities of the community. 4. research methodology this study compares the environmental and socioeconomic indices of the study area before, during and after construction towards road upgrade to establish the degree of project impacts. the study relied on local perception and used mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) to source data from residents, traders and transport operators in the study area with the aid of structured questionnaire, interviews and focus group discussions with representatives of transport unions and personal observations. this method was used by budiyati and wahyu (2014) for the study of social and economic impacts of national road improvement in kabupaten 26 w.a. alade. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 dompu, nusa, tenggara barat, indonesia. the primary data obtained from respondents include the socioeconomic characteristics of the people, the environmental and socio-economic situation before the project and the impacts arising from the construction of roads, terminals and the pedestrian bridge and the mitigating measures adopted to limit adverse impacts. google map was used to establish the boundary and coverage of the project area. convenient sampling technique was adopted in determining the sample size for this study as surveys and questionnaire administration were carried out based on the availability and readiness of respondents for interview. besides, this technique was used due to the unplanned nature of the area and a dearth of information highlighting the number of people per respondent category. for ease of sampling, the study area was divided into three zones: residential, commercial and road terminals to obtain information from residents, traders and transport operators, respectively. a convenient selection of 120 respondents from the three zones was adopted, and this includes 50 residents, 40 traders and 30 transport operators. the study was limited to a radius of 0.5km from the location of the road upgrade. table 1: sample size distribution zone no of respondents % residential 50 44.5% commercial 40 33.3% road terminals 30 22.2% total 120 100.0% source: author’s study based on respondents’ perception, 27 environmental and socio-economic variables as identified in the literature (lagos metropolitan area transport authority, 2012; morgan, 2012; ijigah, jimoh, aruleba & ade, 2013) were measured on a 5-point likert scale to establish the relative significance index (rsi) of the road project impacts at the pre-construction, construction and postconstruction. the 5-point scale of 1 – 5 is presented as follow: (1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = moderate, 4 = high, 5 = very high). an impact is considered significant when the associated rsi is higher than the mean index (mi) and vice-versa. the rsi is calculated as: 𝑅𝑆𝐼 = 𝑆𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 (𝑆𝑊𝑉) 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 (𝑛) (1) where: swv = 1r1 + 2r2 + 3r3 + 4r4 + 5r5 r = ratings of respondents 𝑆𝑊𝑉 = ∑ 𝑋𝑖𝑌𝑖 (2) 5 𝑖=1 where: x = number of respondents, 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 (𝑀𝐼) = ∑𝑅𝑆𝐼 𝑁𝑎 (3) 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑀𝐷) = 𝑀𝐼 – 𝑅𝑆𝐼 (4) where: n = total number of responses (sample size) r = ratings of respondents na = count of identified impacts based on respondents’ perception, the effectiveness of mitigating measures against adverse impacts of the project was classified as ‘effective’ or ‘ineffective’. effectiveness of mitigating measures was based on the percentage of respondents. a mitigating measure is considered effective when not less than 50% of respondents rated or considered it as such. 5. findings and discussion the section contains the analysis of the environmental and socio-economic situations of the project area at the preconstruction, construction and post-construction phase and the effectiveness of mitigating strategies against adverse impacts of the road project based on local perception. 5.1 pre-construction phase (baseline) situation the pre-construction phase represents the baseline for the study. the analysis presented in table 2 represents the prevailing environmental and socio-economic situation of the project area at the pre-construction phase. the mean index (mi) established from the 27 variables is 3.00 and 12 (eight environmental and four socio-economic) of these variables were significant as they have rsi higher than 3.0. in order of significance, the twelve variables include children access to school (3.84), traffic congestion (3.77), noise pollution (3.76), access to health facilities (3.65), access to shopping (3.63), poor road terminal (3.55), hindered access to the neighbouring community (3.51), air pollution (3.49), poor road condition (3.45), access to recreation facilities (3.21), vehicular/pedestrian conflict (3.03) and poor sanitation (3.01). the results suggest that before the road project, the neighbourhood had always experienced adverse environmental conditions such as high levels of traffic congestion, noise pollution, poor road terminal, air pollution, poor condition of roads, vehicular/pedestrian conflict and poor sanitation. the unplanned land use, poorly organised terminals and poor traffic management may be responsible for the observed situation before the road project, which was aimed to ameliorate the adverse conditions in the project area. the results of the baseline studies on the environmental and socio-economic situation at the pre-construction of the road project reveal that environmental situations were generally poor. y = weight assigned to an impact by respondents w.a. alade./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 27 table 2: pre-construction (baseline) environmental and socio-economic indices environmental indicators impacts’ significance ratings (n=120) swv rsi mi md 1 2 3 4 5 noise pollution 5 13 9 72 21 451 3.76 3.00 0.76 water pollution 11 50 45 11 3 272 2.27 -0.73 air pollution 8 16 28 45 23 419 3.49 0.49 flooding 4 45 59 12 319 2.66 -0.34 traffic congestion 10 5 16 61 28 452 3.77 0.77 poor road condition 14 1 45 37 23 414 3.45 0.45 poor road terminals 1 41 6 35 37 426 3.55 0.55 encroachment on pedestrian facilities 44 13 7 39 17 332 2.77 -0.23 frequent road accident 18 44 27 18 13 324 2.70 -0.30 vehicular/pedestrian conflict 19 11 55 18 17 363 3.03 0.03 frequent change in land use 24 49 25 3 19 304 2.53 -0.47 impaired urban aesthetics 35 43 6 14 22 305 2.54 -0.46 poor sanitation 8 47 23 20 22 361 3.01 0.01 hindered access to adjoining neighbourhoods 8 10 35 47 20 421 3.51 0.51 impaired mobility 19 13 27 49 12 382 3.18 0.18 socio-economic indices crime/insecurity 13 43 35 19 10 330 2.75 3.00 -0.25 housing shortage 24 47 34 15 2.33 -0.67 rental value 17 15 62 21 5 342 2.85 -0.15 displacement of businesses 8 63 30 7 12 312 2.60 -0.40 unstable income source 40 29 29 15 7 280 2.33 -0.67 unemployment 17 20 50 15 18 357 2.98 -0.02 access to shopping 13 1 28 53 25 436 3.63 0.63 access to health 6 10 25 58 21 438 3.65 0.65 children’s access to education 5 3 25 60 27 461 3.84 0.84 access to recreation facilities 21 10 27 47 15 385 3.21 0.21 disruption of power supply 21 53 33 8 5 283 2.36 -0.64 disruption of water supply 16 68 31 5 265 2.21 -0.79 total 80.96 source: authors field survey, 2017 the results suggest that before the road project, the neighbourhood had always experienced adverse environmental conditions such as high levels of traffic congestion, noise pollution, poor road terminal, air pollution, poor condition of roads, vehicular/pedestrian conflict and poor sanitation. the unplanned land use, poorly organised terminals and poor traffic management may be responsible for the observed situation before the road project, which was aimed to ameliorate the adverse conditions in the project area. the results of the baseline studies on the environmental and socio-economic situation at the pre-construction of the road project reveal that environmental situations were generally poor. 5.2 construction phase impacts table 3 captures the outcome of the analysis of environmental and socio-economic indices of the project area at the construction phase with a mean index of 3.14 which is relatively higher than the 3.00 obtained at the pre-construction phase. the table reveals that 15 (ten environmental and five socio-economic) of these variables have rsi higher than 3.0. and 13 of them have rsi higher than 3.14 (the mean index). in order of significance, the thirteen variables with rsi higher than the mi include noise pollution (4.36), traffic congestion (4.03), poor road condition (3.83), displacement of business (3.70), unemployment (3.69), change in land use (3.48), higher rental value (3.45), vehicular/pedestrian conflict (3.43), poor road terminal (3.41), unstable income (3.25), impaired urban aesthetics (3.24), air pollution (3.20) and water pollution (3.18). table 3 further revealed that the scale and mix of environmental and socio-economic indices observed at the construction phase are somehow different from the pre-construction phase results. for example, the rsi of 4.36 for noise pollution is far higher than the preconstruction phase, suggesting that the road project worsen the noise pollution in the project environment. similarly, rsi of 4.03 for traffic congestion is also much higher than what obtains in the pre-construction phase. besides, seven of the significant indices at this phase are not significant at the preconstruction phase, and these include water pollution, change in land use, impaired urban aesthetics, higher rental value, displacement of businesses, unstable income, and unemployment. this suggests that the road project has significant environmental and socio-economic impacts in the construction phase. 28 w.a. alade. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 table 3: construction phase environmental and socio-economic indices environmental indicators impacts’ significance ratings (n=120) swv rsi mi md 1 2 3 4 5 noise pollution 4 11 43 62 523 4.36 3.14 1.22 water pollution 4 22 53 31 10 381 3.18 0.04 air pollution 7 9 58 45 1 384 3.20 0.06 flooding 12 39 37 32 329 2.74 -0.40 traffic congestion 15 6 2 34 63 484 4.03 0.89 poor road condition 10 8 1 74 27 460 3.83 0.69 poor road terminals 9 3 56 34 18 409 3.41 0.27 encroachment on pedestrian facilities 32 49 13 15 11 284 2.37 -0.77 frequent road accident 11 35 31 39 4 350 2.92 -0.22 vehicular/pedestrian conflict 10 15 35 34 26 411 3.43 0.29 frequent change in land use 23 7 8 54 28 417 3.48 0.34 impaired urban aesthetics 2 26 44 37 11 389 3.24 0.10 poor sanitation 8 40 18 40 14 372 3.10 -0.04 hindered access to adjoining neighbourhoods 18 31 30 22 19 353 2.94 -0.20 impaired mobility 11 32 51 9 17 349 2.91 -0.23 socio-economic indices crime/insecurity 16 26 31 44 3 352 2.93 3.14 -0.21 housing shortage 24 42 34 20 290 2.42 -0.72 rental value 33 10 67 10 414 3.45 0.31 displacement of businesses 6 15 15 57 27 444 3.70 0.56 unstable income source 5 41 5 57 12 390 3.25 0.11 unemployment 8 20 15 35 42 443 3.69 0.55 access to shopping 21 35 42 10 12 317 2.64 -0.50 access to health 12 36 43 10 19 348 2.90 -0.24 children’s access to education 10 29 43 16 22 371 3.09 -0.05 access to recreation facilities 31 24 48 12 5 296 2.47 -0.67 disruption of power supply 25 32 39 23 1 303 2.53 -0.61 disruption of water supply 21 34 45 19 1 305 2.54 -0.60 total 84.75 source: authors field survey, 2017 specifically, socio-economic impacts in the form of business displacement, unemployment (job loss), increased rental value and unstable income were noticeable. it is normal to have environmental and socioeconomic impacts from road projects of this nature. thus, the higher mi and rsi observed in this phase of the project are expected. however, the very high rsi of 4.36 and 4.03 for noise pollution and traffic congestion respectively suggest that adequate measures were not put in place to manage the very high adverse impacts. this is not strange as there was no clear evidence the assessment of the impact was done for the project. 5.3 post-construction phase impacts the post-construction phase of the project is expected to produce more positive impacts in the study area. analysis of the environmental and socio-economic indices for the post-construction phase as presented in table 4 shows a mean index of 3.02 for the 27 variables which are relatively lower than the 3.14 obtained at the construction phase and very close to 3.00 obtained at the preconstruction phase. table 4 also reveals that 12 of the 27 variables have rsi higher than the mean index. the results show that the impacts observed at the post-construction phase are different from the construction phase. this is expected as the road project was initiated initially to mitigate some of the prevailing adverse environmental and socio-economic conditions before the project. however, some unanticipated adverse impacts were observed in the postconstruction phase. an example is an encroachment on pedestrian facilities (sidewalks) which has the highest rsi (4.20). other significant impacts in this phase include increased rental value (3.90), better access to health facilities (3.77) and education facilities (3.72), noise pollution (3.68), mobility (3.67), access to shopping (3.67), access to adjoining neighbourhoods (3.66), unemployment (3.50), air pollution (3.44), access to recreation facilities (3.38) and displacement of business (3.07). for a better comparison of the construction and postconstruction impacts with the baseline situation, the rsi of significant impact indicators in the three phases of the projects are presented in table 5. the table reveals that 21 of the 27 impact indicators are significant across the three phases of the project. for instance, 13 of them were significant in the pre-construction phase, 15 in the construction phase and 12 in the post-construction phase. the results in the tables show that noise pollution was significant in the study area before the project; it became the most significant impact in the construction phase and had the least rsi in the post-construction phase. w.a. alade./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 29 table 4: post-construction environmental and socio-economic indices environmental indicators impacts’ significance ratings (n=120) swv rsi mi md 1 2 3 4 5 noise pollution 38 57 64 18 441 3.68 3.02 0.66 water pollution 17 37 37 24 5 323 2.69 -0.33 air pollution 5 16 28 63 8 413 3.44 0.42 flooding 23 51 40 6 269 2.24 -0.78 traffic congestion 26 32 18 36 8 328 2.73 -0.29 poor road condition 32 36 48 3 1 265 2.21 -0.81 poor road terminals 36 71 7 2 4 227 1.89 -1.13 encroachment on pedestrian facilities 1 6 10 54 49 504 4.20 1.18 frequent road accident 28 64 25 2 1 244 2.03 -0.99 vehicular/pedestrian conflict 24 12 75 7 2 311 2.59 -0.43 frequent change in land use 5 42 36 24 13 358 2.98 -0.04 impaired urban aesthetics 18 26 42 16 18 350 2.92 -0.10 poor sanitation 23 65 15 10 7 273 2.28 -0.74 hindered access to adjoining neighbourhoods 14 49 21 36 439 3.66 0.64 impaired mobility 9 4 26 60 21 440 3.67 0.65 socio-economic indices crime/insecurity 24 47 28 15 6 292 2.43 3.02 -0.59 housing shortage 10 50 47 13 316 2.63 -0.39 rental value 16 29 26 49 468 3.90 0.88 displacement of businesses 3 33 52 17 15 368 3.07 0.05 unstable income source 14 25 58 20 3 333 2.78 -0.24 unemployment 2 27 37 17 37 420 3.50 0.48 access to shopping 5 12 33 38 32 440 3.67 0.65 access to health 3 6 40 38 33 452 3.77 0.75 children’s access to education 1 5 51 33 30 446 3.72 0.70 access to recreation facilities 9 8 59 17 27 405 3.38 0.36 disruption of power supply 13 33 59 15 316 2.63 -0.39 disruption of water supply 11 32 49 27 1 335 2.79 -0.23 total 81.48 source: authors field survey, 2017 table 5: rsi of impact indicators in the three project phases impact indicators project phases pre-construction (rsi) construction (rsi) post-construction (rsi) noise pollution 3.76 4.36 3.68 water pollution 2.27 3.18 2.69 air pollution 3.49 3.20 3.44 traffic congestion 3.77 4.03 2.73 poor road condition 3.45 3.83 2.21 poor road terminals 3.55 3.41 1.89 encroachment on pedestrian facilities 2.77 2.37 4.20 vehicular/pedestrian conflict 3.03 3.43 2.59 frequent change in land use 2.53 3.48 2.98 impaired urban aesthetics 2.54 3.24 2.92 poor sanitation 3.01 3.10 2.28 hindered access to adjoining neighbourhoods 3.51 2.94 3.66 impaired mobility 3.18 2.91 3.67 rental value 2.85 3.45 3.90 displacement of businesses 2.60 3.70 3.07 unstable income source 2.33 3.25 2.78 unemployment 2.98 3.69 3.50 access to shopping 3.63 2.64 3.67 access to health 3.65 2.90 3.77 children’s access to education 3.84 3.09 3.72 access to recreation facilities 3.21 2.47 3.38 mean index 3.00 3.14 3.02 source: authors analysis 30 w.a. alade. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 5.4 assessment of mitigating measures this section appraises the various mitigating measures adopted to manage the adverse impacts of the road upgrade. of the 27 listed impacts, 20 of them were considered significant in both construction and postconstruction phases. however, respondents’ assessment of the mitigating measures presented in table 6 indicates that only 15 of these impacts had visible mitigating measures. results presented in the table indicate that 11 of the 15 mitigating measures were effective. the percentage of respondents who regarded these measures as an effective range from 61% to 99%. consequently, the mitigating measures deployed to manage hindered access to adjoining neighbourhoods was regarded as the most effective (99%). the measures deployed against this impact include diversion of traffic and use of mass media to inform the residents of the host community about the traffic management measures. table 6: respondents’ assessment of the mitigating measures project impact mitigating measure effectiveness (% of respondents) effective ineffective impaired access to adjoining neighbourhoods diversion of traffic and mass media announcement to that effect 99.0 1.0 poor road condition quality road construction and use of quality materials 98.0 2.0 poor road terminals the proper definition of terminals, delineation of boundaries, lighting, layout and toilet provision 92.0 8.0 traffic congestion traffic diversion and use of traffic officials 90.0 10.0 misuse of pedestrian facilities barricading and preventing commuters from crossing the highway 86.0 14.0 impaired urban aesthetics urban design application to the construction of the pedestrian bridge, terminals and roads 80.0 20.0 road accident placement of safety/traffic signs; deployment of traffic and road safety personnel 77.0 23.0 vehicular/pedestrian conflict construction of sidewalks/erection of barricade to prevent commuters from crossing highway 75.0 25.0 crime/insecurity deployment of the police and other security agencies 68.0 32.0 poor sanitation constant site cleaning 63.0 37.0 noise pollution avoidance of use of noise-making equipment/ elimination of unnecessary public audios. 61.0 39.0 air pollution regular road wetting 45.0 55.0 flooding construction of proper drainage channels 43.0 57.0 displacement of business compensation 37.0 63.0 change in land use compensation/consultation with stakeholders 37.0 63.0 source: authors field survey, 2017 other adverse impacts whose mitigating measures were considered adequate include poor road condition, poor road terminals, traffic congestion, misuse of pedestrian facilities, impaired urban aesthetics, road accident, vehicular/pedestrian conflict, crime/insecurity, poor sanitation and noise pollution. interestingly, noise pollution rated as the worst impact in the construction phase is the least (61%) among the impacts with effective mitigating measures. the primary measure deployed to mitigate this impact was the avoidance of the use of noisemaking equipment. the other four impacts whose mitigating measures were considered ineffective include air pollution, flooding, displacement of businesses and change in land use. displacement of businesses and change in land use were considered as impacts with the most ineffective mitigating measures. this suggests that compensation of and engagement with owners of affected businesses were not well-managed. impacts of the project without any visible mitigating measure in both construction and post-construction phase include unemployment, higher rental value, unstable income, water pollution and encroachment on sidewalks. the lack of measures to mitigate these impacts exclude them from those listed in table 6. 6. discussion of findings the assessment of the environmental and social impacts of road upgrade in the project area, as documented in this study produces some outcomes that are not usually found in the literature. for instance, the magnitude of the road project reviewed in this study requires that a proper impact assessment is done before the project execution phase. however, there was no evidence that relevant government agencies did such a study. consequently, the findings in this study may be a true reflection of the absence of an impact assessment study on the project. this study established that the prevailing environmental and socio-economic conditions of the project area before the road improvement were poor. this is attributed to weak planning control and poor integration of land use and transport planning, thus necessitating the road improvement project which includes the construction of a 3-legged pedestrian bridge and walkways for vehicular/pedestrian segregation, roadway improvement in the form of the slip road, rotary junction, road widening, creation of three parking areas, relocation of market, road signs, speed control, traffic signal, safety and w.a. alade./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 24-33 31 security measures and control of environmental nuisances in the project area. soneye (2010), in his study of the environmental impacts of the upgrade of another major highway in lagos metropolis also supported the claim that these areas are usually subjected to various transportation challenges that often lead to public outcry. the roads upgrading and provision projects are the responses of government to the outcries of the residents of these areas. the perceived environmental and socio-economic situations during and after the project compared with the baseline situation showed that the project produced some adverse impacts, the most prominent being noise pollution at the construction phase. this is not at variance with what obtains in literature, and there are practical ways of dealing with such impact. for instance, towers (2001) argued that identifying the noise problems at the design phases of the project is the most important thing to do so that appropriate mitigating measures can be specified proactively, before the start of the construction. similarly, wanjiku (2014) also posited that adverse impacts associated with the construction of highways are predominantly environmental impacts such as pollution and the loss of biodiversity within the environment. the social and economic impacts of road projects are also positive and beneficial to the host communities. this study presents that some of the benefits of the project on the host community are, the enhance physical environment, improved security, increased accessibility and mobility, increase in land value, improved standard of living of residents and the provision of employment opportunities. these are some of the beneficial environmental, social and economic impacts of road projects. bogale (2016) in his study of the impacts of three major highways in ethiopia also discovered that there are more positive and less negative temporal and spatial socio-economic impacts generated by the three corridors notwithstanding their locational disparities. in the absence of evidence of an existing impact assessment report, this study established that the road improvement project has helped to deal with the hitherto poor transport and land use challenges in the project area. the study also established that the mitigating measures deployed to manage the adverse impacts of the project were generally effective, but ineffective for impacts such as air pollution, flooding, displacement of businesses and change in land use. where impacts of road development are not properly predicted and analysed, some of the mitigating measures adopted in addressing the environmental and social impacts of roads and other developments are little more than window-dressing (alamgir et al., 2017). 7. conclusion the provision and expansion of roads have been on the rise in most nigerian cities in recent times. these road projects have transformative effects on the environment, economies and societies which should be discussed and considered publicly. this study has examined the ojoduberger road expansion projects in lagos and identified the various social and environmental impacts associated with this project. the relevance of this study lies in its potential to provide valuable information that can serve as a guide to adopting best practices in the delivery of road projects in urban areas. the study concludes that where no impact study is done for road development or improvement in urban areas, the use of local perception remains an excellent approach to appraising project impacts. based on the findings in this study, it is recommended that in the future, government agencies responsible for urban road development should follow best practices in project impact assessment before construction. this should involve adequate community consultation and engagement of people in the host community as a way of achieving sustainable project development in the road transport sector. this aligns with the position of chen (2001) who submitted that the effects of subway construction on host communities in china were expertly managed by predicting and analyzing the social risks and potential social conflicts in advance. it is clear from this study that some adverse impacts of the road upgrade could not be adequately mitigated as some of them were beyond the scope of government intervention. such impacts include unemployment/job loss, higher rental value and income instability. in the future, such impacts should be anticipated, predicted and managed adequately for social and political equity. acknowledgement my research assistants: tosin aloba and ojo benjamin are well appreciated for their assistance in the fieldwork, literature sourcing and editorial work. references alamgir m., campbell m.j., sloan s., goosem m., clements g.r., mahmoud i.m., and laurance w.f. 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(2016). social costs of road crashes: an international analysis. accident analysis preview, vol. 94, 97–106. xue, x., zhang, r., zhang, x., jing, r., li, y & li, h. 2015. environmental and social challenges for urban subway construction: an empirical study in china. international journal of project management, 33 (2015) 576–588, available online at www.sciencedirect.com jcbm (2017) 1(1). 14-28 groins or not: some environmental challenges to urban development on a lagos coastal barrier island of lekki peninsula j. n. obiefuna1, a. omojola2, o. adeaga3, and n. uduma-olugu4 department of architecture, university of lagos, nigeria 1,2,3,4 received 18 january 2017; received in revised form 25 february; accepted 28 february 2017 abstract worldwide, barrier islands are usually sedimentary, dynamic and in high demand for urban development. intense development negates their dynamics leading to risks necessitating protective measures like groins which tend to aggravate the problem. suburban lekki peninsula on the south of lagos metropolis is a large, long barrier island disposed largely to unplanned, accelerated growth since the first residential scheme in 1980 without consideration of its physical dynamics. this study, therefore, evaluated some risks confronting development from the dynamics of the peninsula with the goal of demonstrating the use of low budget online data for analysis of coastal hazards and risks. this entails the integration of remote sensing, gis techniques to assess its characteristics and evaluate risks to development from some hazards inherent in island's physical processes as a typical barrier island on the lagos coastline. findings reveal that the area which was hardly built up in 1984 had grown to about 18% in 2014 with eti-osa lga as the most developed at 68.4% and the most low-lying of the three comprising councils. results further confirm the peninsula as narrow in a few sections and generally low-lying with 37% between 0.5 3m while 63% is between 3 5m above mean sea level (msl). medium to maximum rates of beach erosion occur mainly in eti-osa lga at about 22.75m/yr around kuramo waters, decreasing to 5.5m/yr around goshen estate. projections on coastal erosion on the most erosive area in eti-osa lga from 2013 reveal potential socio-economic impacts on road infrastructure and buildings as ranging from a minimum of n1.16billion to n139.42billion over the next 30 years at present level of development and values. the study concludes that the greatest risk from barrier island processes assessed is mainly in eti-osa lga with kuramo waters area as the epicentre. recommendations include the base flood elevation (bfe) and design flood elevation (dfe) to enhance the resilience of future developments. comparative observations from the literature on the effect of groins on downdrift areas were further made to highlight new risks on the peninsula. keywords: barrier island; urban development; hazard and risk evaluation; dem; storm surge flooding; coastal erosion. 1. introduction 1.1 background coastal zones worldwide are acknowledged as areas of intense natural and anthropogenic processes, home to a large and expanding human population while at the same time experiencing environmental degradation (asangwe, 2006; population reference bureau prb, 2003). coastlines generally are dynamic areas where three 1 corresponding author. tel: +234 802 315 0648. email address: jerynus@yahoo.com 2 email address: demola_omojola@yahoo.com 3 email address: oadeaga@unilag.edu.ng 4 email address: nnezi.udumaolugu@gmail.com environmental zones of land, air and water converge. a striking feature of some of the world's coastlines and coastal areas are the fragile, sometimes thin accumulations of sand and vegetation that form the barrier island system along these coasts. these barrier islands which are usually sedimentary or depositional are separated from the mainland by estuaries, bays or lagoons. unlike the stationary mainland landforms, barrier islands naturally are unstable, eroding, migrating and rebuilding in response to winds, waves, tides, currents, sea level university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:jerynus@yahoo.com mailto:demola_omojola@yahoo.com mailto:oadeaga@unilag.edu.ng mailto:nnezi.udumaolugu@gmail.com j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 15 changes and other relentless ocean environment processes such as extreme episodic storm events (eese’s) (feagin et al., 2010). worldwide, barrier islands are in high demand for having become highly sought after locations for development and recreation. the attraction of ocean views and beaches has drawn lots of people to settle on or take vacations on barrier islands (zhang & leatherman, 2011). for instance, in the united states with established formal planning for development, about 12% of all the barrier islands on atlantic and gulf coasts are completely urbanised while 36% are heavily developed (stutz & pilkey, 2005). barrier islands which are known to exist in 10% of world’s coastlines (stutz & pilkey, 2011) are extremely fragile, dynamic, sometimes transitory, restless and relatively young coastal geomorphic features. they are usually formed in response to these common factors namely: large sand supply, gentle sloping mainland coastal plain, and sufficient wave energy to move sand around, rising sea level and a low to the intermediate tidal range (bush et al., 2004). thus, they are constantly maintained and remade by the complex interaction of rivers, sediment supply, sea-level change, ocean currents, wave energy and the wind (western carolina university – wcu, 2005; jack, 2003). looking at the total length of barrier island shoreline, the united states with the highest of 405 islands has about 24% of the world’s barrier islands while madagascar, colombia and nigeria each has 3% of the global length of barrier islands (stutz & pilkey, 2011). of its share of the global length of barrier islands, nigeria's 800km of atlantic coastline is mostly composed of beach ridge barrier islands (ibe, 1988). these include the barrier lagoon complex of the lagos coastline from the benin republic border for 200km to the transgressive mud beach east of it. this is followed by a chain of 20 or more beach ridge barriers or deltaic barrier islands (stutz & pilkey, 2011), extending for about 500km on the rim of niger delta. next to this and extending for 85km from imo river to cross river estuary is the strand coast which for the most part is rimmed by a barrier island chain. of these barriers, the most generally developed with human settlements are in the lagos barriers (ibe, 1988). the lagos coastline itself is rimmed in its entirety by barrier islands. these include the badagry island/lighthouse beach backed by badagry creek and lighthouse creek, victoria island backed by five cowrie creek and lekki peninsula which is backed by five cowrie creek, lagos and lekki lagoons. of these, victoria island which had experienced phenomenal erosion and lost over 1.5km of land near the eastern breakwater is the most developed and constitutes one of the important commercial and residential areas of the country (nwilo, 1997). some research works have summarised the inherent dangers or challenges confronting development on coasts and barrier islands generally and particularly in the united states (bush et al. 1996; stutz & pilkey, 2005; wcu, 2005; feagin et al. 2010 and taylor, 2014). for barrier islands, these challenges include their sandy nature, wind, waves and currents, low elevation and attendant flooding, their unstable and migratory nature, storms and storm surge flooding, coastal erosion and consequent placement of coastal defence structures to check eroding shorelines. cumulatively, these works concluded that urban development is a major driver of environmental degradation and habitat loss on barrier islands as these developments with stabilisation projects initiated hazardous conditions, wetland losses along with sediment and geomorphic changes. further, they observed that in the past few decades, despite escalating disaster-related losses and environmental risks of living on these islands, barrier island communities in the united states continue to grow and rebuild even after major storm disasters. rapid urbanisation therefore in a generally low-lying lagos metropolis has led to the unplanned and extensive reclamation of wetlands, encroachment on natural drainage channels and unrestrained deforestation to provide land for rapid urban expansion (abegunde, 1988). lekki peninsula sub-region which is on the southern flank of lagos is part of the metropolis experiencing rapid urbanisation in recent years. although given the name 'lekki peninsula', it is an island (lasg, 1980). being a part of the barrier-lagoon complex (awosika et al., 2000; awosika et al., 1993a; ibe, 1988; nwilo, 1997), lekki peninsula is principally a large barrier island. having an appreciable store of fragile, undeveloped land close to the highly developed high-brow and previously very erosive victoria island (a barrier island also), this has predisposed it to be one of the most dynamic growth areas. since the lekki scheme i in 1980's by the state government, development has accelerated including residential schemes, lekki free trade zone phase 1 (lftz) and infrastructure master plan (fig. 1.1a, b, c) and has outpaced physical planning until recently. missing in these development activities and in the literature is the consideration of barrier island dynamics and hazards/risks from its physical processes such as erosion, devastation and flooding as shown in plate1.1 a e) and exemplified from barrier islands of long island, new york, miami beach, florida, on victoria island and on the peninsula itself. appropriate planning and development which recognises the dynamic characteristics of such island and others like it as well as human needs should guide the location of development activities (taylor, 2014) to enhance livability. against this background, this study sought to evaluate how existing and continuing development are at risk from the physical processes of lekki peninsula as a case study and how this information could be used to safeguard existing development and guide future ones on it and other developing lagos barriers. in advanced countries, costly imageries, sophisticated analytical techniques and historical shoreline data are in use for coastal hazard evaluation. for a developing country like nigeria which lacks these tools and funds are usually limited (bush et al., 1999), a viable low cost alternative approach for coastal risk evaluation becomes desirable. in this regard, the study focused on the use of free online imageries and data to augment baseline data for a low-budget evaluation of proxies of coastal processes or geo-indicators and their inherent hazards. among the objectives are the assessment of the island physical characteristics or geoindicators, the evaluation of the hazards of these physical processes and the risks they pose to urban development on the island. these are what are reported in this paper. 16 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 figure 1.1a-c: a) current development and wetland reclamation in lekki peninsula; b) lekki master plan proposal (source: dar al-handasah, 2009 and c) lekki free trade zone (source: chinanigeria etcz, 2009). plate 1.1a – e: beach erosion and devastation on barrier island coastlines. a) beach erosion and deposition are regular features of barrier island coastlines. groins interrupt the natural sand flow and can exacerbate erosion on downdrift side of the coastline. (source: tanski, 2007). b) 2013 imagery showing erosion around goshen beach estate, lekki (source: google earth, 2013). c) goshen beach estate remains of shallow-depth retaining wall after the ocean surge of 24-8-12, d & egoshen beach estate devastation from the surge of 24-8-12 & workers readying sandbags as barriers to ocean surge. 1.2 characteristics of barrier islands & geo-indicators as their name implies, barrier islands are usually narrow and sometimes elongated, shore-parallel sandy islands placed by nature in front to protect the mainland area from direct ocean waves and storms (fig. 1.2a, b). having been formed by the combined action of sand deposition, winds, wave action, tides, currents, longshore drift, sea level rise and fall, the morphology of barrier islands is very dynamic, changing constantly in response to the self-same coastal processes responsible for their formation (zhang & leatherman, 2011; feagin et al., 2010; bush et al., 2004 ; jack,2003). as dynamic sand accumulations, they are endowed with two turbulent coasts, the ocean side and lagoon side (taylor, 2014). the ocean side is prone to strong winds, waves, storms or surges, longshore and rip currents, coastline erosion and/or deposition as well as sea level variation. on the lagoon side are usually the tidal salt marshes and wetlands. between the beach and the lagoon side in the higher latitudes are the primary dune, the secondary dune, the back dune and the flat zone, the flats being the best location for urban development as prescribed by mcharg (1971). the primary dune serves as the major defence against the sea and therefore intolerant of breaching with perpendicular roads or building development (mcharg, 1971). unlike in the higher latitudes where onshore winds play a significant role in dune formation, their role in translating beach sediments inland on the humid tropical barriers is an unsettled issue, hence beach dune development in the low latitudes are not a b c b c d e j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 17 as prominent. thus the nigerian coastline including lekki peninsula is characterised by flat beaches (ibe, 1988). changes in sea level, wave regime, sediment supply, storm or storm surge frequency coupled with the construction of shore protection structures (groins, seawalls, bulkheads and others) influence the behaviour of barrier islands as geomorphic features. furthermore, conventional urban development of buildings and infrastructure involves rigid structures whose rigidity conflicts with the physical dynamics of barrier islands. consequently, the increasing pressure on the dynamic barrier island landscapes and coupled ecosystems to become rigid as human-dominated features make them unable to render the same ecosystem services and resilience dynamics as the original settings (stutz & pilkey, 2005). stated differently, urban development on barrier islands counteracts their dynamics creating problems. geo-indicators or island characteristics (bush et al. 1999) which includes island width, elevation, vegetation density, beach character and configuration, shoreline stability, or rate of shoreline change and storm frequency (or heavy rainfall and storm surge frequency as is applicable here), barrier island interior geomorphology and wind can be used to estimate islands geomorphic carrying capacity. this is because island width gives a measure of available space or proximity to dynamic processes of beach erosion and waves. the rate of shoreline change or erosion along with island width is the most important measure of the long-term stability of the island in terms of sea level and sediment supply. both enable a prediction of the ‘expected lifetime’ of urban development or activity on the island. storms or heavy rainfall and storm surge are responsible for flooding and risk to human development while elevation is a measure of an island’s vulnerability to flooding. bush et al. (1999) suggest that geo-indicators provide a low-cost tool for rapid assessment of coastal hazard risk potentials either for environmental monitoring or coastal assessment. these indicators are proxies expressing the short – term coastal dynamics and representing all the elements on which the coastal processes depend. they suggest that in developing countries where funds are limited and historical shoreline position data is often lacking, geoindicators can provide simple, qualitative tools for rapid assessment of coastal hazards and risk potential. thus, geo – indicators can be used to evaluate risk from coastal hazards such as coastal erosion, storm surge flooding, dune loss, overwash and human induced problems, loss of critical systems, increased erosion and loss of sand supply. figure 1.2 a-b: a) typical barrier island system; b) typical barrier island cross section – ocean to the lagoon or bay. (source: https://sharkresearch.rsmas.miami.edu/assets/pdfs/learning-tools/). 1.3 some effects of development on barrier islands to situate and appreciate some of the consequences of development on barrier islands worldwide, two examples, one from maryland, usa and the other, victoria islands lagos serve to illustrate those effects. as argued by mcharg (1971), waves normally approach the beach from an angle while water runs over the sand and recedes at right angles to the shore. by this, sand carried by the receding waves is transported through littoral drift down drift of its origin. sand, therefore, continues to be moved in one direction and on the new jersey atlantic seashore, for example, this direction is southwards. thus, groins emplaced perpendicular to the coast causes accretion/deposition on the upper end and erosion on the lower end while the northern tips of barrier islands here tend to be eroded with the southernmost tips elongated with sand deposition (mcharg, 1971). in this light, the building of rock jetties stabilised ocean city inlet, maryland but they altered the normal north to south sand transport by longshore currents and initiated accelerated erosion and deposition. this resulted in sand build up behind the north jetty while the sand below the south jetty was quickly eroded. this accelerated erosion has shifted assateague island south of the inlet about 0.8km inland (fig. 1.3 a-c). the other example of a b 18 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 development effects is from victoria island. the construction of the almost perpendicular breakwaters from 1908 to 1912 at the entrance of lagos harbour initiated a phenomenal beach erosion of 25 30 m/yr. east of the eastern mole in victoria island (ibe, 1988). this erosion as determined through aerial photographs saw the shoreline recede by about 2km threatening the heavy development on the frontage ahmadu bello way. this was while progressive accretion was occurring on lighthouse beach, behind the west mole (fig.1.4a, b). although this is currently being tamed by the construction of eko atlantic city project, obvious indications are that this phenomenon may have shifted further eastwards to the peninsula. figure 1.3 a-c: changes in assateague island, maryland (usa) as a result of accelerated erosion from the man-made rock jetties of ocean city inlet. a) photo of the inlet; b) map of the area with outline showing the position of the island in 1849 and in 1980; c) imagery of the same island in 2010 (sources: freudenrich, 2014, http://science.howstuffworks.com, 2014. google earth, of 7-4-2010). figure 1.4: the lagos coastline showing v.i. and entrance to lagos harbour before (a) and after (b) the construction of the breakwaters (source: ibe, 1988). 2. methods 2.1 the study area the study is conducted on the lekki peninsula, a rapidly urbanising area south-east of lagos metropolis and one of the barriers on the lagos coastline (fig. 2.1). it is located to the east of victoria island, bounded on the west by igbosere creek which connects kuramo waters to fivecowrie creek. on the north, it is bounded by the lagos and lekki lagoons; on the east by ogun state. on the south, it is bordered by the bight of benin/atlantic ocean. it covers an area of about 98,000 hectares or 980km2, extending eastwards for a distance of about 100 kilometres from its western boundary. the location is at about latitude 60 22'n and 60 37' 10"n and longitude 30 assateague is. ocean city a b c j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 19 25' 50" and 40 21' 20"e. the climate of the area as experienced in the lagos metropolis is influenced by two air masses namely: the tropical maritime and tropical continental air masses. the former is wet and originates from the atlantic ocean while the latter, a warm, dry and dusty air, originates from the sahara desert. two seasons are generally experienced in the area namely, rainy season (april – october) and dry season (november – march). based on the 20 local government areas of the state, the peninsula is composed mainly of etiosa, ibeju/lekki lga’s and a portion of epe lga. geomorphologically, ibe (1988) suggests the barriers on the lagos coastline of which lekki peninsula is one are part of the low-lying barrier-lagoon complex which extends from the nigeria/benin border eastwards for about 200km. the morphology of the complex was determined by the coastal dynamics, drainage and four interrelated coastal processes (ibe, 1988). first, characterised by erosive beaches, there is the absence of ‘exoreic’ rivers which would have replenished from hinterland sand lost from long shore current action. this according to him explains the absence of spits and barriers developing presently. secondly, there is a very active west to east longshore current. thirdly, the complex has a narrow, steep continental shelf of about 30 km wide and which is indented by gullies and submarine canyons including the avon canyon (60 10'n and 30 55'e) and mahin canyon further east. this narrow continental shelf enables waves to reach the shore at higher heights and promotes the loss of near shore sediments to the gullies and canyons. lastly, the intensity of wave action is high along the beaches due to the influence of the prevailing south-westerly winds. also, ibe (1988) notes that the lekki peninsula barrier island varies in width from ½ km to 21km and is generally aligned parallel to the atlantic coast. the barrier beaches of the lagos coastline have an average altitude of 0.75-5m above sea level (abegunde, 1988). the peninsula comprises of five geomorphologic sub-units namely: the abandoned beach ridge complex; the coastal creeks and lagoons; the swamp flats; the forested river floodplain and the active barrier beach complex (adepelumi, 2008). figure 2.1: lekki peninsula and the lgas’ 2.2 data acquisition & analysis the data utilised for the study include baseline data, those on geo-indicators or island characteristics, gps/geodetic control data as well as ancillary data. baseline data was acquired using osgof 1:25,000 topographic maps of 1984/85 of lagos ne1; abigi ne1, nw1&2; ibeju ne1&2, nw1&2; ijebu-ife sw3 and ijebu-ode sw4 sheets. these maps were scanned, digitised head-up, edge-matched and edited using autodesk raster design software. geo-referencing of the digitised maps to utm zone 31 was in arcgis with selected gps control points extracted from lagos state geodetic controls for the state's 'enterprise geographic information system, lagis'. this was imported into arcgis 10 for all subsequent analysis. the indicators of island morphology extracted were island width, elevation and rate of shoreline erosion or recession. island width was measured on three north-south transects corresponding to the narrowest segments in the west and east as well as on the larger portion in the middle of the island on the georeferenced baseline map of the island of 1984/85. the western transect which later turned out to be in the most erosive segment of the island was re-measured on overlaid and geo-referenced google earth high resolution imageries of december 2001 and that of december 2012/january 2013. for the extraction of elevation, online, freely available cgiar csi 90m srtm digital elevation model, dem of 2000 (wgs 84, version 4.1) was downloaded from www.cgiar-csi.org/data/srtm-90mdigital-elevation-database-v4.1.v and classified. the positional accuracy between the wgs 84 datum and the nigerian datum (minna datum) was assessed to ascertain the need for transformation but showed a coincidence of coordinates of both datum and the absolute height error of srtm dem for lagos area was about +/-0.0904m. with this elevation data, drainage network and drainage basins or the lack thereof were generated using arc hydro tools in arc hydro geoprocessing tools version 2.0. beach recession or coastal erosion was analysed on the atlantic 20 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 coastline by overlaying the geo-referenced google imageries of december 2001 and december 2012/january 2013 and measuring to the wet/dry lines on random utm coordinates on similar images from the southern coastline of lagos lagoon and five cowrie creek. a minor displacement noticed between corresponding images was assumed not to invalidate the results as they are taken as qualitative indicators, not absolutes as suggested by bush et al. (1999). evaluation of the potential risk to development on the island was performed by intersecting the elevation data with planar gis or ‘bathtub fill’ water levels (van desande, 2012; poulter& halpin, 2008; bates et al., 2005) of 0.5 – above 4.1m from datum to derive a flood hazard potential for both pluvial and marine flooding. to evaluate coastal erosion risks, the minimum (5.42m), moderate (10.25m) and maximum (22.75m) erosion rates were radiated inwards from the coastline in 10-year intervals for 30 years of the most erosive area in eti-osa lga to establish the extent potentially lost if the erosion rate is unperturbed. image mensuration (jensen, 2007) and valuation (otegbulu, 2013) were done to estimate socio/economic impact on buildings and road assets in eti-osa lga. 3. findings a separate evaluation of land cover change indicates that from 0.5% in 1984, urban development or built up area had grown to 18% in the peninsula in 2014 with eti-osa lga being the most developed at about 68% and ibejulekki lga at 7% in 2014. transects on 1984/85 map show that island width was narrowest in the west (maroko area, meridian 3.44270e) at 1.76km, in the east at 1.93km and in the middle of the island at 19.1km (fig. 3.1). this transect on maroko area on google imagery between 2001 and 2013 shows that island width has reduced to 1.52km by 2013 due to coastal erosion. elevation distribution (fig. 3.2 & table 3.1) confirms the peninsula as mainly low-lying with 37% at 0.5 3m and 63% at 3 5m above m.s.l. eti-osa lga, the smallest of the area councils, is the most low-lying (fig.3.3) with 0.5-3m (78%) dominant while its atlantic coastlines are mostly at 0.5-1.5m. the heights of 3-4m dominate in epe (62.8%) and ibeju lekki (59%). extreme flood hazard potential on planar water levels (0.51-2m; fig.3.4) was mainly in etiosa lga. results of drainage analysis show the existence of minimal drainage basins over the peninsula (fig. 3.5). results on beach erosion (table 3.2) also show that the maximum rate of erosion occurs mainly in eti-osa lga at about 22.75m yr-1 around kuramo waters decreasing to 5.5m yr-1 around goshen estate and minimal in the east (fig. 3.6). kuramo waters, a formerly enclosed water body was observed to have been breached by the atlantic ocean in 2012. similarly, goshen estate’s fence was measured at 14.80m on google earth imagery of 17/4/2012 but had reduced to 11.21m from wet/dry or high water line in 2013 after the ocean surge of july 2012 (plates 3.1a, b). if any doubt existed on the veracity of the erosion results, a subsequent google earth imagery of 5/3/2014 (plate 3.2) clearly showed new groins constructed in this vicinity as apparent confirmation of extant serious erosion. figure 3.1: transects of island width in 1984/85. table 3.1: spatial distribution of elevation & percentages in lga's (derived from srtm data of 2000). eti-osa lga ibeju-lekki lga epe lga elevation (m) area covered(km2) area covered(km2) area covered(km2) 0-0.5 0.00 0.0% 0.06 0.0% 0.00 0.0% 0.5-1 1.60 1.1% 1.41 0.3% 0.71 0.2% 1-1.5 18.98 13.3% 3.38 0.7% 4.91 1.5% 1.5-2 27.09 19.0% 9.89 2.1% 14.28 4.3% 2.0-3.0 64.63 45.3% 122.11 26.1% 77.62 23.1% 3.0-4.0 27.48 19.2% 276.79 59.2% 210.54 62.8% 4.0-5.0 3.03 2.1% 53.64 11.5% 27.23 8.1% 5.0-6.0 0.00 0.0% 0.00 0.0% 0.23 0.1% total 142.81 467.28 335.52 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 21 figure 3.2: the distribution of elevation on lekki peninsula (source: srtm dem data). figure 3.3: histogram plot of elevations across lga's. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0.5-1.5 1.5-3.0 3.0-4.0 4.0-50 etiosa 14.4 64.3 19.2 2.1 ibeju lekki 1 28.2 59.2 11.2 epe 1.7 27.4 62.8 8.1 % o f a r e a elevation (m) 22 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 figure 3.4: flood hazard potential for both pluvial & marine flood based on planar water levels/elevation (0.51 – 2m = extreme hazard). figure.3.5: surface drainage network and drainage basins or lack of in the peninsula (generated from srtm dem). table 3. 2 points of maximum erosion in etiosa lga (derived from google imagery of 2001 & 2013). points of erosion measurements (all in eti-osa lga) s/n length (m) meridian (°e) along segment annual erosion rate (m) 1 273 3.4308 22.75 2 197 3.4336 16.42 3 166 3.4382 13.83 4 124 3.4427 10.33 5 110 3.4472 9.17 6 105 3.4518 8.75 7 99 3.4563 8.25 8 95 3.4607 7.92 9 94 3.4651 7.83 10 65 3.4698 5.42 11 82 3.4741 6.83 12 66 3.4789 5.50 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 23 fig. 3.6 areas of maximum erosion in etiosa lga (derived from google imagery 2001 & 2013). plate 3.1a, b. goshen estate in 2012 and 2013 showing distances of the fence from the coastline. note the beach configuration before the construction of groins; a. goshen estate in 2012 showing distance of fence from the coastline -19.63m & wet/dry line 14.80m; b. in 2013 showing distance of fence from coastline – 16.05m & wet/dry line – 11.21m (after erosion/ocean surge of july 2012 (imagery source: google earth, 2012 & 2013). plate 3.2. google imagery of 5/3/2014 showing newly constructed groins around goshen estate and new u-shaped erosion/accretion between the groins. the new groins are apparent confirmation of extant serious erosion. the results of coastal erosion risk evaluation show that the minimum land area potentially eroded in eti-osa lga by the year 2023 is 36ha, 64ha in 2033 and 94ha in 2043 while the maximum in 2043 is 408ha if the erosion remains unchecked and at these rates. also, the minimum to maximum potential economic losses in building and road assets in this area range from n1.16billion in 2023 to n139.42 billion in 2043 in today’s values. 4. discussion and recommendations a b 24 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 the transect of island width on meridian 3.44270e in etiosa lga showed a reduction of 0.12km between 2001 and 2013, occasioned by shoreline erosion. as a measure of life expectancy of the island, this is indicative of the space left before the island is severed by erosive forces if the problem is left unattended to. the spatial distribution of heights in the three council areas amply confirms the peninsula as generally low lying. the absence of discernible direction of slope, definitive watersheds and drainage basins lends credence to this low-lying nature. these results comparatively reveal that eti-osa lga, which is the most developed currently is the lowest lying of the councils in the peninsula with heights of 0.5 3m being dominant. the flood hazard map based on 'bathtubfill' method/elevation shows that most of the area of extreme flood hazard potential (0.51-2m) is in eti-osa lga. this means that about 50% of the council is 2m and below, hence flood waters of slightly above 2m (above m.s.l) will likely inundate 50% of the council. epe lga is the council with the highest percentage of areas of the height of 3 4m followed closely by ibeju lekki lga. these translate into areas of potentially less flood hazard than in eti-osa lga. contrary to the elevation range of 5 15m used in the drainage master plan in the new lekki infrastructure master plan (dar al handasah, 2009), there is hardly any significant area in the peninsula above 5m height. the sand filling of lekki phase 1 and the subsequent piecemeal sand filling of other areas like lekki-epe expressway disorganised the minimal drainage courses which existed previously in eti-osa (dar alhandasah, 2009). as such, jakande estate, lekki, excised villages of maiyegun, aro, igbo efon and okun alfa, for example, are severely inundated from pluvial flooding as they are generally lying lower than the expressway and advisably cannot drain to the atlantic ocean. it is conceivable that in time, the state may undertake to buy out the owners of these places to properly raise the levels well above the expressway to drain to the lagoons. low elevation with hardly any discernible direction of slope, high water table and a severe lack of drainage heads make comprehensive surface drainage and sewer system for the peninsula herculean ventures. this is what compelled the recommendation of a cluster of eight (8) sewage treatment plants for the peninsula with requisite lift stations to discharge effluent to the lagoons (dar al handasah, 2009). among the requirements for recommending flood resilient levels for new development given low elevation are the base flood elevation (bfe) and design flood elevation (dfe). based on the elevation analysis and flooding evaluation, a bfe of 3.1m above m.s.l and a dfe of 3.7m above m.s.l for new developments are suggested. for flood resilience and to save lives, new buildings should be elevated off the ground at least 3m above the suggested dfe. the evaluation of beach recession shows that erosion and beach recession have clearly shifted eastwards to areas of the peninsula which were reported in ibe (1988) to be experiencing accretion at the time. the effect is that at the average and maximum rates of erosion occurring in this vicinity, erosion at the narrowest segment of 1.52km leaves this area with a potential lifespan of 66 142 years from 2013 if the erosion remains unchecked. the evaluation of risks from coastal erosion underlines the elevated risks goshen estate, buildings and road infrastructure in the area are exposed to from both ocean surge and continued erosion and helps to illuminate the need for proactive planning for emergency towards the safety of residents of the area. it also illuminates the potential economic losses to property owners in this vicinity as well as potential losses to the construction industry generally for the loss of beach lands here which have been earmarked for recreational development in the current infrastructure master plan (dar al – handasah, 2009). further, it draws attention to the potential loss of livelihoods of beach recreation operators in this area as the beaches are among the first line area to be potentially eroded. the potential risks outlined should form part of the wake-up call for planning for emergencies in this area. planning for emergencies in the area is necessary because as determined from literature in the course of this study, regardless of the coastal protection measures being undertaken or contemplated, hard engineering protection measures quite often shifts the erosion problem down drift from its location. besides, coastal erosion as part of barrier island's physical processes is inevitable regardless of measures undertaken. 5. new challenges as is indicated above, some groins were shown to have been constructed on the coastline around goshen estate by march 2013. on friday, june 3, 2016, the guardian newspaper (www.guardian.ng) ran an editorial based on the previous briefing by the lagos state commissioner for waterfront infrastructure development titled ‘taming ocean surge in lagos’. this was to the effect that the state authorities had earmarked n36billion for the construction of 18 groins at 40m intervals between goshen estate and alpha beach to the east at the cost of n2billion per groin. to be certain on the actual situation on the ground, a check on google earth imagery of 11/5/2016 revealed sixteen (16) groins spaced about 400m have been constructed from goshen estate past maiyegun beach towards alpha beach (plate 5.1). the most compelling question on this huge investment is will groins tame ocean surge and erosion on the peninsula? evidence from literature makes this doubtful. in their natural states, beaches and barrier islands are resilient landforms having been made to absorb and dissipate the energy of breaking ocean waves by shifting and changing in shape (eroding and accreting) in response to ocean forces and sea level changes (watson and adams, 2011). where development intervenes in this process as in lekki peninsula, these processes transform into hazards requiring solutions to protect the coastline. among the common structural measures or 'hard j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 25 plate 5.1 imagery of 16 groins spaced about 400m from goshen estate towards alpha beach as at may 11, 2016 (source: google earth, 2016). engineering structures' are groins, seawalls and bulkheads, revetments, jetties, geotextile containers and sometimes, breakwaters. groins are rock structures built perpendicular to the shore to intercept the littoral migration of beach sand. it has been observed that solid structures often reflect incoming waves sharply causing greater turbulence and increased erosion downdrift from their location (watson & adams, 2011). under these circumstances, to gain a broader insight, it became instructive to illustrate an example of a similar situation on developed barriers of long island, new york, usa. it is expected that an enduring solution can be found and implemented in this context if possible. where have groins then abated erosion? maybe this can happen on lagos coastline but not on the coastline of the barriers of long island, new york. as reported in tanski (2007) and coch (2015), long island’s atlantic shoreline in new york is occupied by a series of dynamic barrier islands, some heavily developed while some are natural resource areas. after the 1938 hurricane, coastal engineering structures including groins, sea walls and jetties were viewed as means to increase beach width to minimise storm damage and to stabilise storm-cut inlets on long island (coch, 2015; us beach erosion board, 1946). jetties were thus built to stabilise inlets such as shinnecock inlet in southampton (plate 5.2) and others. these jetties reduced the natural westward longshore sand movement along the south shore of long island resulting in sand accumulation on the up-drift or east side while the beach on the down-drift or west side of the inlet was severely eroded. the building of many groins to trap sand moving along the shore to widen local beaches and as storm protection measures, coch (2015) concluded resulted in severe beach erosion of the western end of long island (plates 5.3 & 5.4). plate 5.2: erosion resulting from stabilisation of shinnecock inlet in southampton, long island, new york. the up-drift side of the inlet (right) is accumulating sand against the jetty. the lack of sand supply on the down-drift side of the inlet causes erosion (source: coch, n.k., 2015 & google earth, 2015; imagery date – 24-5-2015). plate 5.3 aerial view of coney island at the western end of long island, ny. relatively little sand manages to get here from its source in eastern long island. (source: coch, n.k., 2015). a b 26 j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 plate 5.4 even with groins, seawalls & palpable deposition, erosion is alive on long island barriers and the cabana complex was at risk on 12-10-2014. imagery captured on 12-10-2016. (source: google earth, 2016). clearly, if groins have failed to abate coastal erosion over the years on long island, new york and elsewhere (escudero, silva & mendoza, 2014; gomes & da silva, 2014), the prospect of it doing so on lekki peninsula is seriously in doubt. in this regard, the pattern of effects of groins on long island, new york is beginning to similarly manifest on lekki peninsula shoreline. for instance, in about 21/2 years since the construction around goshen estate, the u-shaped shoreline formation characteristic of groin formation on imageries and aerial photos has emerged on the previously almost linear shoreline of the peninsula. furthermore, the imagery of 11-5-2016 still shows the back fence of this estate as still on elevating risk of being washed away with almost no noticeable beach accretion. while these may be the case, non-structural or 'soft' coastal and barrier island protection measures are recommended as part of a suite of solutions instead of a one-off approach with groins. these actions include among others dune restoration and beach nourishment, vegetative shore protection, coastal wetland restoration/conservation and substantial setback distances from the shoreline. others include hybrid stabilisation techniques involving nourishment, vegetative techniques involving the planting of dune grasses and other native shoreline species and geotextile measures are also employed (watson and adams, 2011). although beach nourishment is expensive and failed severally in victoria island in the past, evidence in literature shows that many developed countries including the netherlands (bakker et al., 2012) have robust beach replenishment programs in shoring up the beach berm and dunes. finally, despite the suggested measures and any other being implemented for the resilience of development in the peninsula, it needs to be re-emphasized that low elevation, coastal erosion, flooding (pluvial and marine) are unchangeable natural processes of this barrier island and others and thus their life cycle. protection measures can only buy time but not stop their mobility. with sea level rise as predicted, these processes are expected to exacerbate. part of our overall resilience strategy should, therefore, be the option of 'retreat' when possible. 6. conclusion as a basis for understanding the sister barriers on the lagos coastline, this study has shown a low budget integration of free/online high resolution imagery data, srtm dem and gis techniques to assess geo-indicators (or proxies of coastal processes) and evaluate some environmental risks to urban development on lekki peninsula from hazards inherent in its physical processes. it has also demonstrated simple, repeatable, approaches to pre-disaster coastal risk assessment. findings have underscored the area as narrow in some locations, lowlying, prone to pluvial flooding as a result and afflicted in some parts by rapid shoreline erosion. these have also helped to establish that some of the risks to urban development in the peninsula are those tied to its dynamic characteristics as a barrier island. appropriate suggestions for the resilience of new developments have been made. furthermore, the study provides actionable spatial information which can be part of the decision-support tool in evaluating urban development on the peninsula and sister lagos coastline barriers. an area for further inquiry is a continuous evaluation of the physical effects, gains/losses on the coastline from the groins so far emplaced on the peninsula. references abegunde, m.a.a. (1988). shoreline erosion and land use management on the active sand barrier beaches around lagos: a new focus in environmental management in sada, p.o. & f.o. odemerho. (eds). environmental issues and management in nigerian development. evans brothers, ibadan 231-238. adepelumi, a.a. (2008). delineation of saltwater intrusion into the freshwater aquifer of lekki peninsula, lagos, nigeria. the 3rd international conference on water resources and arid environments (2008) and the seawall j. n. obiefuna et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1).14-28 27 1st arab water forum. available from: www.faculty.ksu.edu.sa.pdf. asangwe, c.k. (2006). the douala coastal lagoon complex. cameroon: environmental issues. 14p. retrieved from: www.fig.net/pub/figpub/pub36/chapters/chapter _9.pdf. awosika, l. adekoya, e.a., adekanmbi, m. a., dublin – green, c.o., folorunsho, r. and jimsaiki l. 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(2011). barrier island population along the u.s. atlantic and gulf coasts. journal of coastal research, 27(2), 356–363. issn 0749-0208. doi:10.2112/jcoastres-d-1000126.1 jcbm (2020) 4(1). 13-23 the challenges of closing construction projects final accounts in botswana local authorities j. k. ssegawa1, p. d rwelamila2, and m.g. mogome3 1 & 3faculty of engineering and technology, p. bag 0061, gaborone, university of botswana 2graduate school of business leadership (gsbl), university of south africa (unisa) received 25 may 2019; received in revised form 18 january 2020; accepted 22 january 2020. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.775 abstract anecdotal information in the construction industry in botswana indicated that the process of closing financial accounts for construction projects within a stipulated period is inefficient and ineffective. this is a serious industry problem because a project with an unclosed account is not a successful project as there are unfinished issues and claims left in abeyance to the detriment of both the client and contractor. this motivated a study aimed at investigating this aspect, including identifying the major causes of delays in formally closing final accounts of construction projects in local authorities. a multimethod approach consisting of a review of project documents which were beyond the end of the defect liability period were used in the study. also, a questionnaire survey was administered to parties dealing with construction projects in the selected local authorities. lastly, a focus discussion was held with key stakeholders who implement projects in some selected local authorities. results indicated that while the final account closure process was inefficient (as only 42% of the accounts which were closed were finalised in the stipulated contractual time). secondly, it was marginally effective (as only 54% of the sampled project accounts were closed). common reasons for inefficiency and ineffectiveness include (i) contractors abandoning the project when they realise that the cost of rectifying the defects far exceeds the outstanding balance; (ii) clients taking too long to agree and approve final accounts; and (iii) loss of information when key personnel leave the project on the contractor's side before the final account is finalised. despite the limitation of considering a selected number of local authorities’ projects, the findings have confirmed anecdotal information circulating in the industry about the substantial numbers of project accounts that are usually left unclosed. the following recommendations based on the study results are made. that all adopted contract conditions be modified to focus on nipping the challenge in the bud as well as deterring instrument to future defaulters. the suggested modification: 'it shall be mandatory for contractors to bring the project under tender to a formal closure through final account documentation within a specified period, defaulting contractors to be blacklisted from future contract awards in botswana las'. ordinarily, since contractors can hardly suffer financial losses, the paper suggests that consultants and clients should objectively entertain contractors' claims arising from defects rectifications in the liability period. this is provided such defects were neither caused by poor materials nor are traceable to poor workmanship. these hopefully will mitigate the challenge if followed. keywords: botswana, construction projects, final account, local authorities, project delays, project management 1. introduction as a construction project comes to an end, a final account statement is prepared to signify three aspects. first, to indicate how the contract sum has been adjusted by additions, deduction, alterations and any other approved payments (zakaria, ismail and yuso, 2012). second, to 1 corresponding author. email address: rwelapmd@unisa.ac.za indicate an agreement between the two main parties (i.e. client and contractor) to a construction project. third, to signify an amicable separation of the two key parties. (chi ko, 2009). generally, construction contracts contain a mechanism that allows a contractor, at a specified project milestone, to prepare and submit a final financial statement to a client for review and approval (hiks, university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.775 mailto:rwelapmd@unisa.ac.za 14 j. k. ssegawa, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 2012). in a perfect situation, where there are no disputes, the client is obliged by the contract to issue a final payment certificate and settle the final account. however, during this process, many issues that delay the closure of the final account usually arise. an example is a contractor deciding not to submit a draft final account statement on time or at all or the client not accepting the contractor’s statement. an excerpt from the botswana department of engineering and building services (dbes, 2017:16) an organ that manages the construction of building for the central government indicates how the closure of final accounts could be a problem: ‘during 2010/11 and 2012/13 financial years, contractors listed below undertook the construction of various projects across the country which were implemented through dbes...the projects [listed] were never closed out in accordance with the provisions of the contracts at the end of the defect liability period....if there are any claims to be made you are required to produce all contractual documents relating to your project for consideration and other evidence normally required on a project before any claim, if any, can be considered. contractors who fail to present themselves... after the said deadline, dbes will thereafter proceed with the process to close the accounts of these projects after which no further transactions will be possible in future’. while best practice would encourage that accounts should be finalised as soon as it is contractually feasible, the excerpt indicates that first, the problem of failure to close accounts is real and can drag on for years. the projects were executed between the years 2010 and 2013, and five years (2017) later, the accounts were not closed. second, though the monetary value of accounts was not disclosed (perhaps for confidentiality reasons), the total number of projects listed was 233. the number indicates the extent of the money that could be held in abeyance in project accounts. third, the client was forced to rely on the public financial management and accountability act (the republic of botswana, 2012) which is outside the project contract to close the accounts for contractors who were not forthcoming in closing the project accounts. that background motivated a study to investigate the nature of closure of final accounts, particularly in local authorities in botswana. the study had two objectives, first, to investigate the level of efficiency and effectiveness in closing the final account of construction projects. efficiency was viewed as the relative time that elapses for an account to be closed when compared to the time stipulated by the contractual clause. effectiveness was viewed in terms of the ratio of the final accounts closed to the total, which should have been closed following contractual clauses. the second objective was to identify the major causes of delays in closing the final accounts as perceived by both the major stakeholders, i.e. clients and contractors. this paper, therefore, discusses findings thereof and is divided into four sections. the next section discusses a review of literature on final accounts, while the third section discusses the methodological approach used for the study. the fourth and fifth sections discuss the study findings followed by conclusions and recommendations.large. 2. contractual parties, clauses, closure and delay factors in final account – theory & practice theory and practice relating to issues of final account was reviewed, and the resulting synthesis is discussed based on the key parties involved in the construction project, the closure process, contractual provisions concerning the research objectives. 2.1 main parties to the final account closure the key parties to the preparation, agreement and approval of the final account of a construction project are the client and contractor. another party typically represents each, for example, quantity surveyor, architect, engineer or a combination of them. in terms of the final account, these two parties must agree that the final account statement represents what transpired during the construction period (el-shaid, 2016; kylindri et al., 2012). 2.2 processes leading to the final account as already noted earlier, the input for preparing starts from the moment the tender is awarded and a tender sum is agreed by the key parties. figure 1 indicates four major project milestones (1, 3, 5, and 7) and three activity periods (2, 4, and 6) between the milestones that feed into the drawing up a final account discussed as follows: source: authors figure 1: milestones and activities leading to construction project final account closure 2.2.1 construction period the genesis of the final account is the contract sum stated by the contractor at award (box 1 of figure 1) and accepted by the employer as the forecast cost towards the construction project. however, both parties know that this amount, for all practical purposes, will never be the exact 1: contract sum stated at award 2: construction period 3: issuance of certificate of practical completion 4: defects liability period 7: final account (official end of the project) 5: issuance of end of defect liability certificate 6: final account preparation period j. k. ssegawa, et. al./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 15 final amount at the end of the construction period (box 2). this is particularly more common in the two-tier negotiated contract system where several items are often incomplete in design at the time of tendering. usually, several deductions and additions occur to the contract sum for various reasons; for example, the need to actualise the costs of the provisional items and prime costs. clients too, often order work which was not stipulated in the contract and which inevitably changes the cost estimate. therefore, due to these unavoidable changes during the project life, it is important to have an effective change control system that ensures that the contractor does not carry out changes believing they have been approved only to find out this is not the case (pmi, 2013; el-shaid, 2016) and hence end up in a dispute. good communication, documentation and record-keeping, especially by the contractor, are key aspects in having an effective change control system because these are easily auditable (rics, 2015). without a well-managed change control process, the final account negotiations may be protracted and difficult to manage. 2.2.2 defects liability period practical completion milestone marks the end of the construction period as per the contract. as a sign of approval of this milestone, the client’s agent issues a certificate of practical completion (box 3) to the contractor to indicate that the project is officially complete and where possible may be occupied for beneficial use of the client (kylindri et al., 2012). practical completion does not always mean that all the work has been satisfactorily completed (cidb, 2008). therefore, the defects liability period (box 4) usually starts immediately after the issue of the certificate of practical completion. during this period, which is usually six or twelve months, depending on the type of contract, the contractor must make good, at his expense, all defects appearing in the permanent works reported by the client. in the event, the contractor fails to finish all defects identified in the period, which will not elapse until all the identified defects have been fixed to the satisfaction of the client (cidb, 2008; chi ko, 2009). however, once the client is satisfied that all the works, including minor defects, have been rectified, the client may issue an end of defect liability certificate (box 5) to the contractor (cidb, 2008). the issuing of the final certificate means that the contractor is no longer responsible for any damages or defects that may occur to the building (chi ko, 2009; kylindri et al., 2012). this, however, excludes latent defects, where the contractor may be liable for any major defects that manifest in the first five or ten years (depending on the contract conditions) after issuance of the final certificate (cidb, 2008). 2.2.3 final account preparation stage once the client issues the defect liability certificate (box 5), the onus is on the contractor to prepare and submit a draft final statement of account (box 6). however, best practice indicates that the contractor is at liberty to start at an early stage to prepare a statement leading to a draft final statement of account after receiving a certificate of practical completion (box 3) from the client. without repeating a subject well covered in various literature sources (e.g. rics, 2015, chi ko, 2009), the contract sum may be adjusted by items that include, prime cost sums; provisional sums; payments to nominated sub-contractors or nominated suppliers; statutory fees paid by a contractor on behalf of the client; variations (design, quantity, quality, working conditions and sequencing of work). others such as payments relating to the opening-up and testing of the works; resources price fluctuations; contra claims imposed as a result of the contractor's operations (such as a third-party claim resulting from contractor negligence or the contractual breach, for example, damaging screen wall of a neighbouring property); liquidated and ascertained damages; and release of any remaining retention. 2.3 contractual clauses relating to final account the processes relating to the final account is governed by the project contract and some aspects of common law (chan, 2001; chi ko, 2009). there are several standard contract conditions used around the world including the joint contracts tribunal (jct), new engineering contract (nec), institution of civil engineers (ice) and fédération internationale des ingénieurs-conseils (fidic). the local authorities in botswana mainly use the fidic contract 1999 edition, and an adapted form of the jct contract hereafter referred to as local authority contract (lac). in terms of clause 14.11 of fidic’ s red book, 1999 edition, a contractor must within 56 days after receiving the performance certification submit the final statement of account as illustrated in figure 2(a). on receipt of the final statement of accounts, the client must settle the account, if there is an agreement, within 28 days. hence both contracts show that once the statement is verified and an agreement is reached, the client should issue a final statement to settle and close the account (box 4 in figure 1). on the other hand, clause 26(f) of the lac, states that a contractor must within 180 days after receiving the performance certification as illustrated in figure 2(b) submit the final statement of account. on receipt of the final statement of account, the client must settle and close the account, if there is an agreement, within the same period. 16 j. k. ssegawa, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 *pcc –practical completion certificate source: authors figure 2: stipulations of fidic and la clauses on the closure of construction projects 2.4 causes of delay in preparing the final account factors affecting final account settlement are varied and inexhaustible. in general, it is the interpretation of the contract clauses; the efficiency at which the final account is prepared; the acknowledgement of the existence, adjustment and the valuation of work that fosters disputes and hence delays in closing the final account. scholars (e.g. zakaria et al., 2013; chi ko, 2009) have developed frameworks containing common themes indicating the major causes of delays in closing the final account: clientrelated, contractor-related, and other factors. these themes, together with other literature sources (e.g. offeinyako et al., 2016; oseghale and wahab, 2014), are summarised in table 1. the factors are grouped into four categories, namely contractor, client, environmental and general factors. the general factors are caused by both clients and contractors, while environment-related factors result from issues not caused by neither the client nor the contractor. tale 1: causes of delays in closing the construction project final account category of factors delay factors client related • client’s inefficiency in promptly issuing the defect liability certificate • client’s inefficiency in promptly assessing the fa • more work issued during the defects liability period which causes disagreements • lack of funds to cater for the final payment contractor related • contractor's inefficiency in promptly submitting an fa • too much workload leading to taking a long time to submit fa • contractors make errors in the fa and hence rejected • inadequate experience of the contractor in preparing the fa and hence taking more time • poor record keeping leading to loss of information to support claims • wrong documentation to support claims leading to back and forth submissions • high workload leading to 'i do not care attitude for an ending project.' • cost of rectifying the defects far exceeds the claim in the final account (fa) • the contractor goes into liquidation or financial administration common to both the client and contractor • inadequate understanding of the contract conditions leading to disagreements • unsuitable contract to handle the complexities of project activities fostering disagreements • lack of agreement with the work valuation method, process and hence value • the person in charge of preparing the fa is transferred, resigns, retires or dies • unethical client employees who may collude with contractors to defraud and which may lead to protracted investigations. • poor change control mechanism leading disagreements of variations and other instructions environment-related • change in regulations • force majeure source: zakaria et al. (2013); chi ko (2009); offei-nyako et al. (2016); oseghale and wahab (2014) 3. methodology a multimethod approach was used to achieve the objectives of the study, namely, review of project a) fidic contract defects liability period of 12 months (~ 360 days) within 56 days after receiving the performance certification (contractor) should submit a claim final account to be finalized within six months (~ 180 days) b) local authority (la) contract defects liability period of six months (~ 180 days) within 28 days after receiving the claim, the client should finalize account the account should be settled with 84 days p c c * p c c * j. k. ssegawa, et. al./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 17 documents, questionnaire survey and a focus group discussion. 3.1 a review of project records to investigate the extent to which construction projects remain unclosed in the final accounts, data were first sought from a sample of five drawn from a population frame of 16 local authorities’ past contracts in botswana. a non-probability sampling method (purposive sampling) was adopted. authors knowledge of the research problem, expertise in project procurement systems in botswana and la’s willingness to provide project data influenced their judgement in determining the sample (martinez-mesa, gonzalez-chica, duquia, bonamigo and bastos 2016). files of 132 practically completed projects were obtained from the five selected local authorities (las) and reviewed. besides, only building construction projects which were beyond the contractually stipulated time for closing the project account and which were implemented in the period between 2013 and 2016 were selected. the period was chosen because the final accounts should have been due for finalisation, and it was thought the accounts would provide complete data for analysis. the scale in table 2 was used to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the final account closure process, based on the definition earlier stated. table 2: scale for determining effectiveness and efficiency effectiveness & efficiency scale (%) of accounts closed (%) of accounts closed within time highly effective/efficient 75-100% effective/efficient 50-74% ineffective/inefficient 25-49% highly ineffective/inefficient 0-24% source: adapted from bush and burns (2010) apart from investigating the time delay in closing the final accounts, document review technique was used to scrutinise project documents in order to identify and understand the possible documented reasons why accounts could be unclosed. after scrutinising the records, it was felt that some of the behavioural reasons might not be documented on paper, for example, if the contractor lost supporting documents to the claim, the reason would not be documented. 3.2 questionnaire survey and focus group discussion to get a perception of the possible reasons for the delays in closing the final account, a questionnaire was administered to clients and contractors. also, a focus discussion was held with eight project officers. the contractors declined to hold a focus discussion, while some claimed to be very busy. in contrast, others seemed to be suspicious of the survey participants' intentions despite the observation of ethical protocols. the design of the questionnaire was adapted from some of the factors reviewed from existing and related literature shown in table 1. apart from seeking the background information on the respondents, the questionnaire had three sections; contributing factors by clients, contractors and general factors. the questionnaire contained common questions for both groups. it required respondents to indicate, based on their experience, whether a factor was perceived as frequently contributing to the delay in closing the final account. a likert scale was used to rate the factors contributing to the delay of the closure of final accounts with the extreme ends of the scale being ...frequently contributed to the delay in closing the final account (5) and ...does not contribute at all to the delay in closing the final account (1). internal reliability was conducted based on composite reliability (cr) to test the internal consistency of the questions. a total of 21 questions were included in the questionnaire, which had a score of 0.8 and above and three were dropped due to a lower test (α) score (scales not fit for purpose) (peterson and kim, 2013). besides, each section ended with an open-ended question that provided respondents with an opportunity to state any other relevant aspects on the issue of final account closure. the validity of the questionnaire was tested, and this is described in detail in ssegawa, rwelamila and mogome (2019). 3.3 sampling technique purposive sampling was used in sampling of la representatives (clients) who were willing to participate in the study. a total of 48 officers agreed to participate in the study, but only 34 returned the completed questionnaires. an average of three categories of officers from each la; architect, engineer and quantity surveyor completed the questionnaire. 3.4 questionnaire administration and response rate the ethical protocol was observed for both groups, especially in explaining the study purpose, seeking consent and voluntary participation in the study and ensuring anonymity for each participant. the entire data collection took a period of five months i.e. between july and december 2017. collected data from project accounts, the returned questionnaires and focus group discussions were analysed on a spreadsheet. the list of contractors was drawn from bidding documents in the selected las. a total of 289 contractors were identified, and questionnaires were distributed through fax, e-mail and drop-off. a total of 123 questionnaires were returned though 11 questionnaires were disregarded because the contractors had less than five years of industrial experience. the five years and above threshold were considered adequate to provide an insight into the research problem under investigation. the response rate was, therefore, 38.8% (112, i.e. used questionnaires), which was considered adequate for survey research (ramshaw, 2018). 3.5 method of analysis the findings are discussed in two sections, the efficiency and effectiveness of the closure of final accounts and the causes of delay in the formal closure of a construction project in the final account. the scores of clients (cl) and contractors (co) computed from participants’ responses on the factors divided by the maximum composite agreement score (cgs) to normalise the scores using the following equation 1. the (cgs) isolates factors having 18 j. k. ssegawa, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 the highest scores agreement from the clients and contractors as the dominant causes of delays. 𝐶𝐺𝑆 = ∑ 𝐶𝑙𝑖×𝐶𝑜𝑖 20 𝑖=1 (𝐶𝑙×𝐶𝑜)𝑚𝑎𝑥 (1) the cl and co responses for factors i =1 to 20, are divided by the maximum cgs in order to normalise the figures in percentages scores. 4 results and findings the discussion of results is centred on achieving the two objectives of the study, i.e. the efficiency/effectiveness of the closure of accounts and the perception held by the key stakeholders as to the causes of the delay of the process. 4.1 efficiency and effectiveness of the closure of final accounts before a discussion of the findings on efficiency and effectiveness of the closure of final accounts commences, the profile of the projects which were selected for study is briefly highlighted to provide the context of the findings. 4.1.1 profile of selected projects table 3(a) indicates that 132 projects were selected from five las, consisting of 69 (52.3%) new developments and 63 (47.7%) maintenance projects. fidic contracts were used for new developments and spanned 12 months or more while la contracts were used for maintenance projects spanning a duration of up to six months. table 3b (i-iii) indicates that the median contract value for the sampled projects was p1, 048,320.00 (1us$=bwp9.65 in january 2018). the highest and lowest contract values were p19, 641,038.60 and p330, 400.00 respectively for new and maintenance projects. table 3 (a)-(b): profile of selected projects a) las’ projects local authority new developments (fidic contracts) maintenance (la contracts) total la1 23 10 33 la2 17 14 31 la3 10 17 26 la4 11 20 28 la5 8 6 14 total 69 63 132 ratio 52.3% 47.7% 100% b) the financial profiles of projects i. median contract value p1,048,320.00 ii. maximum contract value p19,641,038.60 ii. minimum contract value p330,400.00 4.1.2 the effectiveness of final account closure table 4 (a) shows that 72 (54.4%) of the final accounts outs of 132 studied were closed. this indicates that las marginally effective (based on the scale given in table 2) in closing the accounts. table 4(b) shows that the amount of money held in unclosed final accounts (45.6%) was p9, 401,115.10. it is most probably that the amount will be higher if all sixteen las were studied. also, since the value of contracts executed by las is often lower than that of, say, dbes, department of roads or water affairs, it means the value of unclosed final accounts may be enormous in the entire public construction sector of botswana. table 4 (a)-(c): level of effectiveness for closing final accounts a) state of final accounts of the project studied proportion i) closed accounts 72(54.4%) ii) unclosed accounts 60(45.6%) 132(100.0%) b) amount held in the 60 unclosed final account p9,401,115.10 c) type of project involved proportion i) the proportion of unclosed accounts within the selected sample of maintenance projects 45/63(71.1%) ii) the proportion of unclosed accounts within the selected sample of development projects 32/69(46.4%) total 132(100.0%) table 4 (c) also indicates that the proportion of unclosed accounts (71.1%) within the selected sample of maintenance projects is higher than the proportion of (46.4%) of unclosed accounts within the selected sample of development projects. this could be because (i) maintenance jobs have many uncertainties, as the scope of work and quantities are difficult to determine during tendering and (ii) the frequent changes in the scope of work which always occur at the execution stage. besides, because most maintenance jobs are of low value, they are carried out by small-sized contracting firms who are often newcomers in the industry and are characterised with inefficiency as lack of capacity (i.e. labour and equipment) and inexperience, particularly in estimates preparations. the preceding are most likely the reasons why projects are not officially closed when the costs of making good the defects exceed monies held as retentions. 4.1.3 the efficiency of final account closure further analysis was carried out on the 72 (54.4%) projects for which accounts were formally closed, as shown in table 4(a) to determine the level of efficiency using elapsed time. figure 3 indicates that 42% (30) of the final accounts were closed in one month while the rest (58%) were closed in periods beyond one month (with 27% being closed after six months and over). the longest period of closure was nine months and involved three projects. this result suggests that the final account closing regime is not efficient. this outcome reinforces the results indicated in table 4 that the final account closure regime in the las is marginally effective, i.e. though more accounts by a simple majority were closed, most of them were closed beyond the stipulated time in the contract. j. k. ssegawa, et. al./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 19 figure 3: time that elapsed before the final accounts were closed when the project documents relating to these accounts were scrutinised, it was discovered that there were 21 cases where the contractor delayed in submitting the claim to the client. in the other 14 cases, it was the client who delayed in processing the final account. furthermore, there were 12 cases where the contractor was given additional work during the defects liability period. this essentially amounted to extending the contract period and hence the final account settlement period. there was also an interesting scenario in one of the las that had 11 projects, the client’s representative grouped the final account claims to process in one month (e.g. in april and december). some of the projects took a long time to process while others were processed in a shorter period. though researchers did not interrogate the officer as to why this was done, it demonstrates a convenience to process all accounts at once than anything else. lastly, it is noteworthy that several cases had more than one reason for the delay. 4.1.4 age of unclosed accounts the unclosed final accounts of 60 (45.6%) projects (see table 4) were scrutinised. figure 4 indicates that 40% of them had remained unclosed for less than a year while the majority (60%) of the project accounts had remained unclosed for more than one year. moreover, four (7%) projects’ final accounts had remained unclosed for three years. on scrutinizing the documents from this group, it was noted that most of these unclosed projects were of maintenance types that were executed by mostly small (class oc& a) and medium contractors (class b). the documents of these projects contained some insightful correspondences which indicated some kind of disputes, for example, one of such correspondence read ‘... according to the terms of reference, the aspects which you refer to in your communication dated... were not included or even referred to ......it would be prejudicial to us to expect them to be carried out without adequate compensation...’ as canter (1993) and lai & yik (2007) noted, maintenance contracts contain many uncertainties due to lack of precisions in the work estimates. such are usually the potential causes of disputes and eventually delays in the final reconciliations. the rest of the projects had two symptomatic reasons why they had not been closed either the contractors were ‘dragging their feet’ to rectify the defects or had simply not attended to the defects despite notification. the actual reasons were not documented and why it was necessary to augment document review with a survey of both the client and contractor perceptions. figure 4: age of unclosed final accounts 4.2 causes of delays for closing the final accounts a discussion of the causes of delays for closing the final accounts is preceded by a brief description of the profile of respondents to underscore their capacity to provide an in-depth insight into the topic of investigation. 4.2.1 profile of respondents a total of 166 questionnaires were analysed consisting of 34 clients’ representative and 132 contractors (who had worked for any of the five las within the period under review). table 5 (a)(d): profile of respondents a. the profession of client representatives (drawn from 5 la) no. ratio quantity surveyors 11 32% engineers 13 38% architects 10 30% total 34 100% b. client representatives’ experience years no. ratio 5 -10 10 29% 11-19 14 41% 20-29 7 21% 30 and over 3 9% total 34 100% c. class of contractors no. ratio small (oc & a) 48 36% medium (b & c) 76 58% large (d & e) 8 6% 132 100% d. contractors’ experience years no. ratio 5 -10 14 11% 11-19 74 56% 20-29 32 24% 30 and over 12 9% total 132 100% 42% 11% 8% 6% 6% 10% 6% 8% 3% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 p ro p o rt io n months 40% 8% 13% 25% 7% 7% ½ 1 1½ 2 2½ 3 p ro p o rt io n years 20 j. k. ssegawa, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 table 5(a) shows there was a right mix of the built environment professionals (quantity surveyors, engineers, and architects) from each la. table 5(b) indicates that a small number (29%) of client representatives had industry experience of 10 years and below while the majority (71%) had experience stretching from 11 years to over 30 years. table 5(c) indicates majority (58%) of the contractors are in the medium category (class b&c), followed by (36%) the small category (class oc & a) and a few (6%) in the large category (class d&e). this was commensurate with the value of building projects undertaken by local authorities. table 5(d) further indicates that the majority (89%) of the respondents had substantial experience in the industry of 11 years and above. the profile of respondents indicates that they could provide valuable insights into the causes of delays in closing the final account. 4.2.2 causes of delay in closing the project in the final account the mean responses (including computed composite scores) by contractors and clients regarding causes of delay in closing the final account are summarised in table 6. it can be seen from the table that opinions of the clients and contractors differ on the factors' impact on the delay in closing a project in the final account. for example, the client indicated with a score of 4.70 that it is the ‘contractor’s lack of timely preparation and submission of draft final account to client’ that is significant in causing the delay. contractors had a contrary view with a score of 1.21. similarly, table 6(b), it is the contractors’ opinion that ‘client’s failure to understand or misinterprets the contract conditions’ is a significant delay factor in closing a project in the final account. contractors are of the contrary opinion on the factor’s level of impact on the delay. table 6: causes of delay in closing final accounts delay factor response rating composite score client (µcl) contractor (µc0) (µcl x µc0) normalised (%) a. contractor related factors 1. contractor's lack of timely preparation and submission of draft final account to the client 4.70 1.21 5.69 42% 2. lack of understanding of the contract conditions by the contractor 4.53 1.67 7.57 56% 3. delay in submission of accurate claims by the contractor. 4.40 1.74 7.66 57% 4. contractor’s failure to agree to the valuation of work. 4.13 1.24 5.12 38% 5. submission of inadequate documentation supporting the claim by the contractor (even where they exist) 4.13 1.83 7.56 56% 6. poor records keeping by the contractor leading to a lack of supporting documents for the claim 4.07 1.52 6.19 46% 7. errors in the claim submitted by the contractor 4.00 1.48 5.92 44% 8. an inadequate experience by the contractor in the valuation of work 3.93 1.60 6.29 47% 9. the person in charge of final account is retired, dead or transferred from project or workstation. 3.73 2.52 9.40 70% 10. the workload from other projects by the contractor and hence not being able to prepare and submit a draft final account to the client. 3.67 2.20 8.08 60% 11. cost of rectifying the defects far exceeds the outstanding balance 3.60 3.74 13.46 100% b. client related factors 12. failure by the client to understand the contract conditions. 1.60 4.71 7.54 56% 13. lack of adequate available funds for the project by the client. 1.20 4.62 5.54 41% 14. client taking a long time to agree and certify the claim. 2.60 4.48 11.65 87% 15. the person in charge of final account from the client's side is retired/dead/disappear or transferred from project or workstation. 1.73 4.43 7.66 57% 16. poor financial management by the client. 1.53 4.38 6.70 50% 17. lots of extra work issued by the client during defects liability period which brings up disputes 1.53 4.24 6.49 48% c. contractual provisions-related factors 18. contract conditions biased to one party which eventually bring disputes and hence affect the final account 1.20 4.26 5.11 38% 19. contract used is not comprehensive to guide the final account 1.47 4.07 5.98 44% 20. contract used is too complicated to be understood by both parties. 1.53 3.76 5.75 43% lack of disagreement relating to the challenges that face the construction industry in botswana is not a new phenomenon. an earlier study observed that there is always a blame game between the service providers and the clients (boccim, 2008). however, the same study concluded that both parties share responsibility in the sector’s challenges. the above results indicate that both parties contribute to the delays in closing the final account. figure 5 shows that nine factors have cgs normalised percentage score of more than 50%. however, four factors which had a higher cgs percentage score of 60% and above were considered the major causes of delay in closing the accounts. these are: j. k. ssegawa, et. al./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 21 i) cost of rectifying the defects far exceeds the outstanding balance (13.46 or 100%) ii) the client takes longer time to agree and certify the claim (11.65 or 87%) iii) the person in charge of final account (for the contractor) is retired, transferred, resigns or dies from project or workstation (9.40 or 70%). iv) the workload from other projects makes the contractor unable to prepare and submit a final account to the client (8.08 or 60%). it is interesting to note that researches on the impact of 'contractor's failure to agree to the valuation of work' on delay in construction project finalizations in the final account (see item 4 in table 6), is sparse. however, it has in this study composite and normalized percentage scores of 5.12 ad 38%, the factor by name, is suggestively a cause of delay in final account preparation. figure 5: significant delay factors in construction project closing in the final account the first set of factors can be corroborated with the findings from document review, where several contractors abandoned sites without further communication despite correspondences from clients. the second set indicates that clients also contributed to the delays while both parties cause the third factors. other factors alluded by boccim (2008) indicated that contractors, especially those in the medium and small categories, sometimes take jobs above their carrying capacity, moreover, in different locations of the country. the study further noted that they prioritise jobs; therefore, a job which is supposed to be at completion stage may be of a lower priority than that which must commence soon or an on-going job which must not be delayed. 4.3 discussion of findings the findings indicate that there is low efficiency (42%) and marginal effectiveness (54.4%) in closing the accounts. chi ko (2009) noted that the challenges of backlogs in settlement of final accounts are a result of the actions and inactions of either party. for a project account to remain unclosed for a long time (or sometimes forever) has many implications. first, it shows the project is not entirely successful as there is an aggrieved party who could be the client or contractor (cheung et al., 2000). secondly, the contractor's cash flow is reduced as money tied in the final account in the form of a claim or retention. for the clients, the money stays in abeyance in project accounts when it could have been used on other developments. it could be 'held-up' in a client's account for five years as stipulated by the public financial management and accountability act of botswana (the republic of botswana, 2012). in a focus discussion, the project officers intimated that it is difficult to determine the contracts on the projects of contractors who abandon their jobs. they noted that in some instances, they are politically connected such that the politicians interfere with decisions to terminate their contracts or to blacklist the contractors. ntshole (2014) also, noted that terminations of contracts and hiring a new contractor eventually do not work in favour of the projects. that is why the department of engineering and building services, for instance, relied on the financial management and accountability act which allows sums not claimed within five years to be returned to the consolidated fund. tighter contract conditions are therefore needed that incorporates explicitly the clause that a contractor who abandons the site without addressing the defects after the defect liability period, the client reserves the right to engage another contractor to rectify the defects, be paid from the withheld money and if not enough, the client should claim the balance from the contractor through legal channels (ntshole, 2014). lastly, the time lapses make it difficult to get to terms with the issues that caused the delay or disputes, for example, key personnel who had the information on the case on either side might have left their employment. such situations lead to costly, time-consuming, undesirable and protracted negotiations, arbitrations or ligations. 5 limitations of the study despite the inherent limitations of data sourced from only five out of the sixteen las in botswana, it nevertheless provides a useful insight into the challenges of closing a construction project in the final account. 6 conclusions 100% 87% 70% 60% 57% 57% 56% 56% 56% cost of rectifying the defects far exceeds the… client taking longer time to agree and certify the claim. person in charge of final account is retired, dead or… work load from other projects by the contractor and… person in charge of final account from the client’s side … delay in submission of accurate claims by the contractor. lack of understanding of the contract conditions by the… submission of inadequate documentation supporting the… failure by the client to understand the contract conditions. 22 j. k. ssegawa, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 project closing in the final account is the finalisation of a project and indicates an agreement between the contractor and the client on the project activities and associated financial history. the agreement on the contents and closure of the final account is one of the indicators of project management success because it brings an amicable closure to the contract. the study indicated that the closure process based on the sampled projects in the five selected las was marginally effective as there were 54.4% of the accounts closed. secondly, for those which were closed, the process was inefficient as only 42% of the accounts were closed within one month of the stipulated contractual terms. for unclosed accounts, it meant that money is tied up, which could have been used by the contractors or clients; for example, over p9.4 million was held in unclosed accounts. three significant causes of delay in the closing of the construction project final account within the stipulated clauses of contract conditions were found in the study. first, contractors sometimes find the cost of rectifying the defects far exceeding the outstanding balance, they, therefore, abandon the projects and hence never submit final account. secondly, the clients also take longer time to agree and certify the final claims. thirdly, in the contracting firms, there are situations where persons in charge of final account retire, resign or die. project information is, therefore lost or takes a while to assemble. contractors and clients, therefore, called to improve on the fulfilment of their contractual responsibility by deliberate plans for increases in the efficiency and effectiveness of final account closures. the fact that most of the modern standard forms of contracts in various countries (including botswana) contain provisions upon which the engineer, the architect, quantity surveyor, cost engineer and project manager are obliged to settle the final account and issue a final payment certificate, actively strengthens the importance of a project schedule and projects cost parameters. since a successful project is measured based on achieving positive results for all project parameters, including meeting a project schedule and budget, failure to settle the final account and issue a final payment certificate, point to the failure of meeting project schedule and cost requirements (budget), thus a clear outcome of project failure. it should be acknowledged that failure to settle the final account of a project strongly signify poor management of construction projects. 7 implications of the research findings since half of the construction projects executed by the botswana las are found not to formally close in final accounts, it implies that: (i) references cannot be correctly made to many past project costs in botswana as certain works and values are not concluded; and (ii) past references and use of cost figures of construction projects for example in approximate or preliminary estimates have been in error and information derived might have misled the users. 8 recommendations based on the drawn inference that only the contractors who discovered that retention monies would not be enough to rectify the defects in compliance with the contract condition clauses on liability, the paper recommends that all adopted contract conditions be modified to focus on nipping the challenge in the bud as well as deterring instrument to future defaulters. the suggested modification: 'it shall be mandatory for contractors to bring the project under tender to a formal closure through final account documentation within a specified period, defaulting contractors to be blacklisted from future contract awards in botswana las'. ordinarily, since contractors can hardly suffer financial losses and to be fair to other stakeholders, the paper suggests that consultants and clients should objectively consider contractors' claims arising from defects rectifications in the defect liability period. this is provided such defects were neither caused by poor materials nor are traceable to poor workmanship. these hopefully will mitigate the challenge if followed. 9 area of further studies furthermore, this paper suggests that the study be upscaled to include the rest of the las and other project management entities, for example, housing, water and roads in botswana, to confirm the results of the study. references boccim (2008), report on the study to improve the performance of the construction industry in botswana, university of botswana, gaborone, botswana. burns, a. c. and & bush, r f. (2010), marketing research, 6ed, pearson, saddle river, new jersey. canter (1993), resource management for construction: an integrated approach, palgrave macmillan, basingstoke, united kingdom chan, p, c, a., (2001), framework for measuring success of construction projects. construction project delivery strategies, school of construction management and property, queensland university of technology, brisbane. cheung, s. o., tam, c. m., ndekugri, i. and harris, f. c. (2000), factors affecting clients' project dispute resolution satisfaction in hong kong, construction management and economics, 18 (3), 281-294. chi ko, k., (2009), study of important factors affecting final account settlement satisfaction of hong kong civil engineering projects: contractor’s perspective, unpublished doctoral thesis, city of hong kong university, hong kong. cidb (2008), basic guide general conditions of contract for construction works (gcc 2004). construction industry development board. south african institution of civil engineering. j. k. ssegawa, et. al./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 13-23 23 dbes (2017), public noticeministry of infrastructure and housing development closeout of contracts, daily news, government printer, gaborone. el-shaid, m. a. (2016), final accounts procedures for construction projects, available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/final-accountprocedures-construction-projects-mina-anis, (accessed on 4 july 2017) hiks (2012), practice notes for quantity surveyors: final account, the hong kong institute of surveyors, available at http://www.academia.edu/6307658/practice_notes_for_q uantity_surveyors_final_accounts, (accessed on 14 july 2017) kylindri, g., blanas, l., henriksen and stoyan, t., (2012), measuring project outcomes: a review of success effectiveness variables, in proceedings of 7th annual mibis international conference, 212-223. ntshole, t. (2004), companies fail to collect retentions, daily news: available at http://www.dailynews.gov.bw/mobile/newsdetails.php?nid=11925&flag= offei-nyako, k., tham, l.c. o., bediako, m., adobor, c. d. and asamoah, r. o. 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(2019). challenges of closing construction projects final accounts– the case of local authorities in botswana, unpublished research report, department of civil engineering, university of botswana, gaborone. jcbm (2018) 2(1). 41-49 potentiality of the south african construction smme contractors globalising within and beyond the sadc construction markets i. c. anugwo 1 , w. w. shakantu 2 , i. saidu 3 , and a. d. adamu 4 department of construction management & quantity surveying, durban university of technology, south africa1 department of construction management, nelson mandela university, south africa 2 department of quantity surveying, federal university of technology, minna, nigeria 3,4 received 23 november 2016; received in revised form 6 october 2017; accepted 17 october 2017 abstract the african continent stands on the verge of developmental take-off, most especially the southern african development community (sadc) region being one of the emerging economies. the 15 years sadc strategic plan for implementation of infrastructure and construction development is believed to stimulate economic, social and technological advancement; and increase the competitiveness and sustainability amongst the small, medium and micro enterprises (smme) and large contractors within the region and globe. the major problem is that most of the smme contractors within south africa, which have the potential to grow into large construction companies and, to further internationalise their businesses lacks the global readiness. thus, the global thrusts have generated the concepts of globalizing business strategy and operations, as one of the drivers of competitiveness of many countries and organisations. the purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of the south african construction smme contractor’s capability for globalizing within and beyond the sadc construction market. this study was conducted among the construction smme contractors in port elizabeth, the eastern cape province of south africa. the qualitative research method was adopted an in-depth interviewing technique with 34 contractors (civil engineering and general building contractors) within the cidb grade 4 to 6 contractors. these smmes are being perceived to have the potential capacity to become large-scale construction organisations shortly. findings revealed that only two smme contractors are operating internationally while other contracting firms are currently sustainable and competitive in the domestic market, and however, few are planning to go global. the study also revealed that most of the smme contractors are reluctant to amplify their potential capabilities, and needed the readiness to develop international business strategies that would enable them to penetrate and participate in the sadc region and global construction market. the study recommends that the sa construction contractors both smme and large contractors should strive earnestly to harness their potential capacity towards globalizing their businesses, strategies and operations frameworks that would foster their global competitiveness. keywords: business strategies, capability, globalisation, smme contractors, south africa. 1. introduction the developing countries are on the verge of infrastructural and developmental take-off, most especially the african continent as one of the emerging economies. this is as a result of their yearnings to bridge 1 corresponding author. tel: +27 31373 2468 email address: ianugwo@gmail.com 2 email address: winston.shakantu@nmmu.ac.za 3 email address: s214344924@nmmu.ac.za 4 email address: ninadzi@futminna.edu.ng the massive infrastructural deficits, as well as its maintenance that would worth around us$100 billion per year on the continent over the next decade (kpmg, 2014). pienaar (2016) claims that infrastructure spending in africa is estimated to grow from us$70 billion in 2014 to us$180 billion per annum by 2025; as new projects and university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:ianugwo@gmail.com mailto:winston.shakantu@nmmu.ac.za mailto:s214344924@nmmu.ac.za mailto:ninadzi@futminna.edu.ng 42 i. c. anugwo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 4149 the refurbishment of asset infrastructure would be expected to increase by more than 25% from the previous year. however, these infrastructure investment opportunities within the african continent is attracting global construction player attention, to penetrate and participate actively in the design and procurement activities (pienaar, 2016). kpmg (2014) further revealed that most of the organisations that are planning to gain entrance into the construction market in the african continent have their headquarters in europe and the middle east, and many of these organisations are small companies. thus, this global thrust has generated the concept of globalisation and internationalisation in today’s construction-business world. dugdale (2014) urges the construction smmes and large organisations, and their stakeholders to continue innovating, as well as to embrace the ever-changing market structure in today's global market if they aimed to stay competitive. uddin and akhter (2011) argued that many organisations are adopting the cross-border alliances (internationalisation/ globalisation) strategy to enhance their global transformational business agenda; as well as to gain competitive advantages while utilising the opportunities emerging from the global market. this concept of globalisation and internationalization of organisations is becoming the strategic source of competitiveness and economic sustainability in the global construction businesses (ibrahim, 2013; uddin and akhter, 2011; and dlungwana and rwelamila, 2004). 1.2 concept of globalisation in the business perspective globalisation is the movement of people, resources, goods, services, ideas, language and skills across international spaces (ibrahim, 2013; and dlungwana and rwelamila, 2004). tallman and fladmoe-lindquist (2002) noted that globalisation is the managerial process of an organisation by integrating its global activities into a single world business strategy. this could be achieved through an organisation(s) managing their business networks of differentiated but integrated subsidiaries, affiliates, alliances and associations. wadiwalla (2003) states that in today's business environment, globalisation is at the forefront, because of the global business expansion, diversification, and deepening of trade. tallman and fladmoe-lindquist (2002) further assert that globalisation adds a new dynamic and strategic dimension towards conducting business because there is a significant potential for gaining a competitive advantage through globalisation. blaauw (2013) noted that the chinese organisations are intensively dominating the africa construction market, as they are constructing several projects to improve infrastructures, such as roads, electricity, railways and irrigation systems in the africa continent. blaauw (2013) further claims that the chinese organisations' strategic moves and successes in africa and global construction markets emanate from its strategic integration between business networks of the chinese companies in africa and globally. in other words, the chinese firm’s internationalisation method involves a strategic integration that is close and well-structured business network in the form of subsidies and incentives (blaauw, 2013). chew, yan & cheah (2009) noted that the chinese construction firms (ccfs) compete largely with others globally. chew et al. (2009) further argue that the domination by the chinese contractors in africa has meant that african construction companies do not just represent a strong source of competition, but also think that african organisations lack financial and technical skills capacity to be in a global landscape of construction markets. however, chew et al. (2009) also claimed that low skill and technology endowment amongst african contractors had limited the chinese construction organisations' interest in establishing collaborative ventures with local companies. 1.3 the study problem identification there is a lack of global readiness amongst the south african construction smme contractors that are being perceived to have the potential capacity and capability to globalise their businesses within and beyond the sadc construction market. 1.4 purpose of the study this study aimed to evaluate an in-depth understanding of the south african smme contractors’ capacity and capability to globalise within the sadc construction market and beyond. 2. literature review 2.1 globalisation forces in the african construction industry (ci) according to anugwo and shakantu (2016); and ofori (2000), the african continent is playing a vital role in the current and future investments of construction and infrastructural development globally. ofori (2000) added that globalisation is an inescapable fact for the construction industries in developing countries. as such, the indigenous construction organisations within the continent need to strategies and seize the opportunities on the current globalisation trends, as it is vitally important for the continent going forward (ofori, 2000). thus, the construction market is becoming increasingly integrated within the continents that no local markets are immune against external influences (globalization); as such, cannot be insulated from global effects (anugwo and shakantu, 2016). wadiwalla (2003) states that some of the south african construction organisations have been globalising, as results of business expansion, diversification, deepening of trade within the sadc region, to eliminate the cyclical nature of the construction market within south africa. furthermore, wadiwalla (2003) states that the contracting business in the sadc is being dominated by south african contractors. tallman and fladmoelindquist (2002) warn that the organisation, perhaps including construction organisations are becoming multinational firms and their strategic model is intended to engage in resources seeking strategies. these resources-seeking business strategies and models are targeting local complementary resources to gain market entry competitively. ofori (2000) further argues that through globalisation, the african construction companies can actively help to upgrade and enhance their national i. c. anugwo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 4149 43 construction industry’s capacity. ofori (2000) reviewed the works of drewer (1980), which focuses on the need for developing countries to strategically use their construction works opportunities and strategic positions to support the growth and development of their indigenous contractors so that they can replace the foreign firms. in line with this thought, dulupcu and isparta (2005) highlighted the positive impacts of globalisation to include; information and communication technology (ict) capabilities flows; labour hyper-mobility and global distribution of labour; income distribution; capital formation; increase enterprises and production; competition, risk and information sharing; and technological developments for creating new business opportunities. these drivers should be the primary stimulation for strategic government policy in developing countries. in this view, dulupcu and isparta (2005) also maintain that the african governments are becoming more sensitive and inclined in creating an enabling business environment, and aiming to enhance their countries’ potentiality, competitiveness, and technological advances. dulupcu and isparta (2005) added that technological development at national level occurs through their invention, innovation, entrepreneurship, adaptation and modification of preexisting technologies, and diffusion of technologies amongst firms, individuals, the public sector and foreign organisations. 2.2 the southern african development community (sadc) regional market integrations the southern african development community (sadc) is a regional economic community comprises 15 member states; angola, botswana, democratic republic of congo, lesotho, madagascar, malawi, mauritius, mozambique, namibia, seychelles, south africa, swaziland, tanzania, zambia and zimbabwe. this was established in 1992 for regional integration towards economic development and for ensuring peace and security (sadc, 2012). the blueprint strategy & policy (bsp) ltd (2005) claims that globalisation forces have pressured the sadc to deal with the issue of how regional integration might strengthen the regional economy, competitiveness and preparation for global competition. thus, on august 2012, sadc summit endorsed the sadc regional infrastructure development master plan (ridmp) and regional indicative strategic development plan (risdp), as a strategic drive to promote competitiveness and sustainable economic development (sadc, 2012). according to van wyngaardt (2015), the ridmp and risdp would guide the sadc’s strategic development in a seamless and cost-effective approach towards successful implementation of infrastructure development projects. these infrastructure project plans include the development of adequate power, water supply, meteorology and sanitation; developing road and rail transport sectors; and ensuring sufficient and efficient information and communications technology operation (van wyngaardt, 2015). the sadc regional infrastructure development projects according to the sadc (2012), the sadc regional infrastructure development projects gear towards creating a broader market and more significant economic opportunities and competitiveness to promote and sustain regional economic development, trade and investment, and as well as to improve social conditions (sadc, 2012). furthermore, the sadc (2012) states that its master plan would be implemented over three stages within five-year intervals, ranging from short-term goal (2012-2017), medium-term goal (2017-2022) to the longterm goal (2022-2027). this is in line with the sadc vision 2027, as a 15-year infrastructure implementation plan, which aimed to progressively deepen the horizon for forecasting infrastructure requirements in the region (sadc, 2012). fernandes (2014) highlights the factors for market drivers of the sadc construction sector as economic expansion; demographic growth; increase demands for residential homes, retails, industrial and commercial construction services; increasingly needs for social and physical infrastructure development and maintenance on existing structures; an increase in economic growth through natural resources and economic diversification. meyer (2016) acknowledged that the construction contractors’ business strategies and model towards the affordable housing market and investments in infrastructure in south africa, as well as within the sadc region are the key to positive prospects for 2016 and going forward. however, the recent south african government housing initiatives are aimed at boosting infrastructure delivery, which are important signals and an opportunity for construction growth and market penetration for both smme and large contractors (mayer, 2016). mayer (2016) further said that construction contractors’ potential growth within the south african market is a competitive business journey. however, there are considerable varieties of opportunities available in the southern african development community (sadc) countries. thus, there is a need for the smme contractors to capitalise on their potential capacity to develop adequate international business strategies towards globalising their market horizon and contributing towards their regional competitiveness (mayer, 2016). 2.3 the business concept of internationalising an organisation ellis and williams (1995) state that international trade and business links have increased the complexity of business approach regarding their strategic capability and management ability. it has become a strategic challenge on all sizes of construction organisations because they need the ability to respond appropriately (potentiality and readiness) to the twin pressures of trade liberalisation and international competition (ellis and williams, 1995). according to blaauw (2013), the business mission, vision and strategy of an organisation are essential aspects of the internationalisation and globalisation of their business activities. therefore, it becomes an ideal for the construction organisations in developing countries to develop and integrate international business strategy into their business strategies. ellis and williams (1995) believe that international business strategy is about how an organisation would compete effectively and efficiently 44 i. c. anugwo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 4149 in international markets. ellis and williams (1995) further suggest that organisations have to formulate (readiness) and implement their international business strategy (such as international business, strategic management, international finance, organisational development and international marketing), concerning international aspects of industries, companies and their strategies. according to younoussi, jouali & arwata (2013), the international activities of small firms are attracting growing interest. there is significant interest in the concept of globalisation, internationalisation, entrepreneurship, and small business growth amongst investors and business research scholars. younoussi et al. (2013) observed that the growing instability of a business environment, because of the waves of integration and liberalisation in the international markets. this wave has dramatically forced the smmes to change their strategic behaviour and to adopt the new realities of free trade as the only means of economic sustainability and competitiveness (younoussi et al., 2013). blaauw (2013) states that organisations that opt to internationalise and globalise their business process and activities must proactively adapt to the international strategic business measures; while their ultimate goals by collaborating with foreign organisations would be based on gaining a competitive advantage, economic sustainability, and creation of more business opportunities. younoussi et al. (2013) added that the potential capability, and readiness to develop strategic business strengths, which are to enable an organisation to take advantage of international market(s) have become essential for small businesses grow, especially in developing countries. thus, the internationalisation of small construction organisation may be achieved through strategic alliance and partnership for competitive advantages; as uddin and akhter (2011) alluded that, to achieve competitive advantages, organisations must combine their assets and capabilities into cooperative and mutually beneficial alliances. according to mowla (2012), strategic alliances have been perceived as one of the primary sources of organisational competitiveness both in the local and global market. mowla (2012) further posits that this strategy also creates opportunities for organisations to gain access to external resources, synergies and foster rapid learning and change in business organisations. supporting this view, uddin and akhter (2011) further claimed that, strategic alliances have become a principal source of competitive advantage for many firms (especially small businesses) and have allowed them to cope with increasing organisational and technological complexities that have emerged in the global market. parvatkar (2011), states that the generic motive for seeking strategic alliances within an industry is to ultimately create and sustain a long-term competitive advantage in a fast-changing business world. this strategy allows organisations to utilise economies of scale, reduce costs, gain knowledge, boost research, investment and development efforts, increase access to new technology, enter new markets, and improve quality (parvatkar, 2011). 2.4 international business strategy carpenter and dunung (2012) posit that globalisation and internationalisation is the shift toward a more interdependent and integrated global economy which creates more significant opportunities for international business both small and large organisations. this process involves exchanges of money for physical goods; resources, such as people, intellectual property, and contractual assets or liabilities (carpenter and dunung, 2012). lockefeer (2010) argues that internationalisation could mean the firm‘s ability to initiate, to develop, and to sustain business operations outside their local market and to integrate with the international economic activities. lockefeer (2010) highlighted the emerging market (em) conditions of firms' capabilities, home country networks and corporate entrepreneurship; and through the home country, network ties are in particular necessary to overcome barriers to internationalization. lockefeer (2010) further highlighted that the strategic constructs for the firm-specific condition in the internationalisation are the ability to build networks and make use of social relations; ability to build strategic alliances; use of technology and working capital; management experience and capabilities; employee experience and knowledge; contextual experience; firm size and age. this is in line with dlungwana & rwelamila (2004) advise that industries in the developing countries, such as south african construction industry, should maintain the continuity in enhancing its capacity at the base levels, and to improve their capacity and readiness to deliver on local and global projects efficiently. thus, lockefeer (2010) noted that the potential growth of the company; proximity to potential clients; asset seeking; market seeking; efficiency-seeking; resource-seeking; technology-seeking; and economies of scale are the crucial drivers fostering the motivations of internationalisation among the chinese smes. the small, medium and micro contractors’ globalisation readiness, and potentiality the, kpmg global construction survey 2013, found that, about half of 165 senior leaders in the construction and engineering industry globally, are strategically planning to move into new geographical areas and most of them focus their business direction towards the african continent, which has been listed as the most popular and prospect to run a business (kpmg, 2014). however, pienaar (2016) claims that more projects in sub-saharan africa in 2016 compared to the past two years because africa is only scratching the surface of the real value of the continent; and growth across africa will exceed growth in the rest of the world significantly for years to come. also, anugwo and shakantu (2016) stated that global readiness could be fostered amongst the local construction contractors by competing both in the domestic and global market through their strategic understanding of the key drivers of the local and global competitiveness and internationalisation business strategies. on the other hand, wadiwalla (2003) observes that the drivers of globalisation and internationalisation in the african construction market are emanating from the growth of information, communication and technological (ict) changes; and the regionalisation of the africa's infrastructures development agendas. ellis i. c. anugwo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 4149 45 and williams (1995) perhaps, noted that the changing dynamics of an organisation's external environment coupled with its internal context, explain what should be expected as the drivers that would motivate the smme and large construction organisations to develop a local or international business strategy. pienaar (2016) affirms that the strategic success of expanding, industrialisation, globalisation and regional trade within africa and sadc region should be the primary driver of growth; and this strategy strongly linked to infrastructure and construction products and services, which would offer tremendous opportunities for smme and large construction contractors within the continent. on the other hand, corkin, burke and davies (2008) claim that chinese enterprises are promoting entrepreneurship in africa, through the establishment of new markets and opportunities. this shows that the chinese companies have more competitive advantages over others (the local and global market players within africa). this could be as a result of the african contractors' inadequacy and lack of capacity; as blaauw (2013) noted that the chinese construction organisations are dominating the africa continent amongst the local and foreign contractors. dlungwana and rwelamila (2004) also alluded that most of the local construction organisations such as smme contractors fail to undertake the competitive process of globalising their business services. dlungwana and rwelamila (2004) believe that smme contractors can execute small and medium-sized projects and can compete in both the local and global markets. scarborough (2014) advocates that any business, large or small can in today's globally competitive environment, think or act proactively and strategically of globalising and internationalising their businesses. ofori (2000), argues that the peoples’ perceptions about internationalisation and globalisation, is one-sided and distorted by regarding it as only the flow of exports from the industrialised nations to developing countries, which is entirely not the case. clarifying this distorted perception, ofori (2000) further elaborates that the international construction market does not lie within the developed countries alone, as some of the organisations exporting construction services and products are coming from the developing countries. for instance, ofori (2000) emphasized that china as a nation as has several indigenous international contractors, notwithstanding there are present of foreign firms actively participating in their mature project market. 3. research methodology this study adopted a qualitative research approach, rooted in the phenomenological paradigm and utilising the indepth interviewing method. out of the seventy-four (74) construction organisations in grades 4-6 of the cidb register of contractors, thirty-four (34) were purposively selected and interviewed in port elizabeth, south africa. according to miles, huberman and saldana (2014) phenomenological paradigm tend to look at data thematically to extract essences and essentials of researcher respondents (contractors) perceptions and its meaning. a phenomenologist advocates the “need to consider human beings’ subjective interpretations, their perceptions of the world (their life-world) as their starting point in understanding social phenomena (mack, 2010). this method is considered the most appropriate and effective to elicit authentic information and perspectives on globalization and internationalization of businesses. the interviewees are the smmes construction business owner's and executive managers as firms' representatives, and strategic position to initiate and drive internationalization business strategies. table 1: the profile of the interviewees c o d e cidb grade position years of exp. c o d e cidb grade position years of exp. d1 4gb general manager (business owner) 26 e6 5ce managing director (business owner) 20 d2 4gb managing director (business owner) +25 e7 5gb managing director (business owner) 40 d3 4ce executive manager (firm’s rep.) 10 e8 5ce director (family business) 17 d4 4gb contract manager (firm’s rep.) 8 e9 5gb director (business owner) 39 d5 4ce general manager (business owner) 7 e10 5gb managing director (business owner) 11 d6 4ce managing director (business owner) 15 e11 5ce general manager (family business) 15 d7 4gb managing director (business owner) 17 e12 5gb chief exec. officer (business owner) 20 d8 4gb director (business owner) 7 e13 5gb general manager (business owner) 9 d9 4gb director (business owner) +10 f1 6gb managing director (business owner) 40 46 i. c. anugwo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 4149 d10 4gb executive member (partnership business owners) 13 f2 6ce executive manager (firm’s rep.) 13 d11 4ce managing director (partnership business owner) 15 f3 6ce managing director (business owner) 42 d12 4ce operation manager (firm’s rep) 15 f4 6ce director (business owner) 32 d13 4ce contract manager (firm’s rep) 20 f5 5gb general manager (business owner) 9 source: researcher’s construct (2017) 4. finding and discussion the findings of this research are presented as follows: 4.1 the cidb contractors’ grading of the interviewees the study interviewed 34 interviewees (see table 1) that have strategic positions, insightful business knowledge and experience in making business decisions in their respective organisations, thus ensuring the validity and accuracy of their responses. by the cidb contractors' grading system, out of 34 interviewees in the study, eight firms (24%) were contractors in the cidb grade ‘6gb and 6ce’coded as e1e8. the, 13 firms (38%) were contractors in the grade ‘5gb and 5ce’coded e1-e13; and another 13 firms (38%) in the cidb grade ‘4gb and 4ce’coded as d1-d13 respectively. 4.2 the interviewees’ working experience in construction industry the number of years of experience that the interviewees had in the construction industry ranged between seven (7) and thirty-five (35) years. thus, 44% had a working experience in construction between seven and 15 years; 32% had worked since 16 to 25 years; while 12% had worked for 26 to 35 and 36 to 45 years in the construction industry respectively. 4.3 highest educational accomplishment of the interviewees concerning educational attainments of interviewees, the study recorded that diploma certificates in the built environment and related disciplines were the most common types of qualification attained. thus, 50% of the interviewees held diploma certificates in building, civil engineering, construction management, quantity surveying and business management. however, 26% held bachelor degrees in civil engineering, electrical engineering, and construction management and construction economics. 18% of interviewees held only matric certificates as their highest educational qualification, although most of them have vast hands-on experience in the construction industry. about 3% of interviewees held honours and master’s degrees as their highest educational achievement respectively. 4.4 theme 1: globalisation readiness, international business strategy and its challenges on construction smmes interview question: does your organisation have business plans of operating internationally? moreover, why? the south african construction smme contractors’ participation in the global market is at very low pace as this study recorded only two (2) of the thirty-four (34) organisations are actively operating within and beyond the south african construction market. one of the respondentsf1 explained that: “yes, at this moment, you can call us an international organisation, because we have a subsidiary in namibia, which started working on a project in oshakati. however, going international is very daunting, but also very rewarding. we decided to expand into the international market, because of the economic situation in south africa." moreover, the other respondent e13 stated that: “we are successfully operating in some other countries in africa, but it is very challenging but very rewarding at the same time.” these findings confirm the assertion made by lockefeer (2010:18) that internationalisation could mean the firm‘s ability to initiate, to develop, and to sustain business operations outside their local market and to integrate with the international economic activities. also, dlungwana and rwelamila (2004) view that smme contractors can execute small and medium-sized projects; and may as well compete in both the local and global markets. fernandes (2014) states that the factors for market drivers of the sadc construction sector are economic expansion and diversification; demographic growth; and increase demands for residential homes, retail, industrial and commercial construction services. thus, 25% are considering globalising within sadc region as a long-term business plan as five respondents highlighted that they have long-term plans to expand nationally before considering expanding internationally. respondent d12 stated that: "we hope to operate our business in the international market, but unfortunately, we cannot explain the detail of the plans at this moment.” this organisational long-term strategic are in line with what, dugdale (2014) advocated for the construction smmes and large organisations to embrace and be part of globalised organisations if they aim to stay competitive. uddin and akhter (2011) argued that many organisations are adopting the cross-border alliances (internationalisation/globalisation) strategy to enhance their global transformational business agenda; as well as to gain competitive advantages while utilising the opportunities emerging from the global market. however, 70% of the organisations interviewed indicated that they have no international business strategy or any strategic business intention to engage in the i. c. anugwo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 4149 47 international construction market. as one of the respondent d6 stated: "to operate internationally? no! to be honest with you, we have not thought of that in our organisation." while one other respondent (e8) explained their reasons for not having interest in the international market, as follows: “it involves a lot of risk and finances. moreover, it is resource demanding and yet faced with a lot of government restrictions and restrictive bank policies." e11 explained that: "i have never thought about that as it never crosses my mind to operate internationally". e9 stated: "i do not want to because i am too old, and it is too risky for me." these perceptions are in line with what ofori, (2000), warned against, which is that the peoples' perceptions about internationalisation and globalisation, is one-sided and distorted by regarding it as only the flow of exports from the industrialised nations to developing countries, which is entirely not the case. thus, only 5% of the smme contractors are participating in the sadc construction market. this 5 % represent two construction organizations that are operating successful business ventures in oshakati namibia and gaborone areabotswana with their parent's organization in port elizabeth, south africa. 4.5 theme 2: strategic partnership with foreign organisation(s) interview question: does your organization have any form of partnership with a foreign organization? also, why? on the issue regarding smme contractors’ collaborating and partnering with foreign organisations, some of the respondents refrained from commenting, whilst some commented that their organisations have not yet explored the business opportunities and advantage or perhaps, have not had the opportunity of forming partnership with an international partner both within and beyond south african construction market. they said that they could only consider this option or form a subsidiary organisation if it appears to be feasible and viable for their sustainable growth. respondent -d12 explained as followed: "we are currently evaluating business options and studying various countries that have shortfalls in the kinds of services we offer, such as specialist civil works; as well as to ascertain if those countries' construction markets have a demand for such services. then, we can collaborate with foreign organisations or form a subsidiary organisation. however, it is quite difficult to study and ascertain the feasibility and viability of going international, though there are opportunities out there" (d12); and respondent f6 explained that: “we are still in the proposal stage of going international, but we will definitely consider having foreign partners”. this inclination of thought is in line with the assertion of, lockefeer (2010) that organisation’s potential growth lies in its proximity to potential clients; asset seeking; market seeking; efficiency-seeking; resource-seeking; technology-seeking; and economies of scale as the important drivers fostering and motivating the concept of internationalisation among smes. thus, the respondent d8 stated that: “maybe in future, our organisation may consider partnering with some of the chinese private construction organisations, because i do not visit china for fun, but for business purposes.” however, respondent e12 acknowledged and stated that: “there are opportunities in the international construction market, but we are not yet ready to partner or form an alliance with any foreign organisation.” while respondent e8 stated that: "we can only go into a partnership with foreign organisations if they are interested in working in south africa". this strategic sense subtly reflects the assertion of this concept of globalization and internationalization or foreign alliance and partnership of organizations is becoming the strategic source of competitiveness and economic sustainability in the global construction businesses (ibrahim, 2013; uddin and akhter, 2011; and dlungwana and rwelamila, 2004). 5. conclusions the article sets out to evaluate the potentiality and readiness of organisations towards globalizing within the sadc construction market amongst the smme contractors in the port elizabeth, eastern cape province, south africa. the critical review of the literature has shown that african continent, mainly the sadc region is attracting substantial global interest in its construction market; and it is evident that globalization is becoming one of the emerging drivers of competitiveness for various countries and organization in the construction market. as such, the globalization forces are inevitable, and the local smmes and large contractors in south africa must consciously harness their potential capability to create a higher level of readiness towards penetration and participation in the infrastructure developmental take-off within the sadc region and beyond. thus, the study revealed that all the respondents interviewed demonstrated that their organisations are sustainable and competitive in the domestic market, and only two out of 34 organisations are operating within and beyond the south african construction market. the study also observed that many of the smme contractors who are being perceived to have the potential capacity and capability to harness the opportunities in the international market lack readiness, and willingness for globalizing their businesses, to strategically explore, and actively penetrate and participate within the african continent, sadc region and global markets in the nearest future. the study further revealed that the most challenging factors hindering the capability for the smme contractors readiness for internationalizing/globalisation their businesses are lack of knowledge and awareness of business opportunities in the global markets; focusing only the risk aspect of going globally, and while neglecting the advantages. further persistence in the lack of capacity for the south african smme and large contractors to harness their potential capabilities and readiness, and willingness for globalizing their businesses, to strategically explore, penetrate and participate actively within the african continent, sadc region and global markets may jeopardise and undermine their sustainability and competitiveness in the nearest future. as such, the strategic business and readiness for the south african construction organisations should target to harness and unleash their potentiality in alignment with the global trends as a competitive advantage. however, 48 i. c. anugwo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 4149 strategic positioning regarding huge proposed infrastructure development plans within the africa and sadc region remains the untapped market opportunities for indigenous construction organisations in the continent to improve its global penetration and participation. thus, finally, the study further revealed that there is the potential capability of some the south african smme contractors to participate actively in the international construction market, particularly in the sadc region; as, 2 out 34 construction organisations interviewed are actively and successfully operating subsidiary firms in namibia and botswana, while handful of them indicated an interest in growing nationally and then globally. this has shown that amongst the sa smme contractors, some have the capacity and capability to globalise and to become competitive in the international construction markets. this study recommends that the south african construction smme contractors that are listed in grade 46 of the cidb register of contractors should gear towards integrating international business strategies into their organisational operation and strategic plans. this strategic business undertaking would enhance their smme contractors' potential capabilities and readiness for globalization, and heighten their organisations’ regional and global economic sustainability and competitiveness. if these recommendations are adhered to, there will be a significant improvement in capacity building and competitiveness amongst smme contractors in south africa. references anugwo, i.c., & shakantu, m. w. 2016. evaluation of the globalisation readiness of medium sized contractors in the south african construction industry. emerging trends in construction organisational practices and project management knowledge area. in: windapo a.o., odediran, s.j., & adediran, a, 9th cidb postgraduate conference, february 2-4, 2016, cape town, south africa. department of construction economics and management, university of cape town, pp. 142-15. blaauw, s. 2013. an internationalisation strategy for an engineering firm"with a focus on the light manufacturing industry in sub-saharan africa. delft: unpublished msc thesis in construction management & engineering: delft university of technology. blueprint strategy & policy (pty) ltd. 2005. promotion of small and medium enterprises in the south african chemicals sector. available [online]: http://www.dti.gov.za/industrial_development/docs/fridg e/sme_support_chemicals_final_draft.pdf [accessed on november 2015]. carpenter, m.a., and dunung, s.p. 2012. challenges and opportunities in international business. available online: https://2012books.lardbucket.org/pdfs/challenges-andopportunities-in-international-business.pdf. accessed on: 12 january 2015. cassim, l. 2014. postgraduate capacitation workshop: workshop. ers consultants. chew, a., yan, s., & cheah, c. 2004. creating and sustaining competitiveness of small and medium-sized construction enterprises in china. in s. ogunlana, c. charoenngam, h. pannapa, & h. b. w. 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received in revised form 1 february 2019, 25 march 2019 and 3 july 2019; accepted 15 july 2019. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.530 abstract gross unethical conducts are common issues among professionals in the construction sector due to the heterogeneous nature of the industry. however, limited efforts are made to ensure that ethical standards become enforced among professionals in the sector. therefore, this study assessed effective mechanisms for the enforcement of ethical standards to improve public confidence in construction professionals. data were collected through copies of questionnaire administered on professionals in consultancy, contracting and government organizations in southwestern nigeria. one hundred and seventy-two (172) copies of questionnaire were retrieved and found suitable for the analysis. data collected was analyzed using both the descriptive and inferential statistics. the study revealed that all the ethical standards identified were moderately significant with relative effective index (rei) that ranged from 0.585 to 0.526. some of these included personal reputation, promotion of civic right, good citizenry, among others. four major effective mechanisms for the enforcement of ethical standards extracted through factor analysis are the roles to be played by the stakeholders (68.22%), individual (9.44%), industry (3.64%) and legal instruments (3.08%). it was concluded that these four mechanisms are effective in the enforcement of ethical standards in the construction industry. the study recommends that all construction stakeholders must ensure that all hands are on deck through collaborations to sanitise the image of the industry. the outcome of this research will improve the ethical orientation of each professional, which will have a positive effect on the general public's perception of the industry. keywords: construction industry, construction professional, effective, enforcement, ethical standards 1. introduction ethics cover all sectors of the economy, construction industry inclusive. ethics could be referred to as a set of principles which include social, religious or civil code of behaviour that is considered to be correct. robinson, dixon, preece and moodley (2007) defined ethics as the philosophical study of what is right or wrong in human conducts and what rules or principles should govern it. however, loulakis (2003) perceived ethics to be the agreed set of principles for a particular profession linked to moral values held by a group or society at large. naturally, truths should govern human nature from which one should be able to differentiate between what is right and wrong (freeman, 2008). the naturally imbibed truths teach moral values and reject immoral values as unethical; the truths also referred to as professional ethics guiding professionals when discharging their duties. professional 1 corresponding author. email address: sjodediran@oauife.edu.ng ethics is the behaviour expected of an individual or a particular group in the industry that is bound by a set of principles, attitudes or types of character dispositions. these set of principles and attitudes control the way a profession is practiced (vee & skitmore, 2003). ethics, therefore, point to the standards or codes of behaviour expected by the group to which an individual belongs. this could be national ethics, social ethics, company ethics, even family or professional ethics (kayne, 2010). professional ethics are the moral values held by a group of people. this is peculiar to professions, in which the fundamental principles incorporated in their professional bodies include integrity, objectivity, competence and care, confidentiality and behaviour (olatunji, oke, aghimien & ogunwoye, 2016). according to lam, hu, ng, skitmore and cheung (2001), the public expects the best from the professionals and the ethical conduct university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.530 mailto:sjodediran@oauife.edu.ng 2 b.f. akintola et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 displayed by these professionals dictates how the society at large perceive such profession. various researchers have documented the ethical states of the construction industry. oyewobi, ganiyu, oke, ola-awo and shittu (2011) established that the industry has historically been challenged with severe pitfall in ethical conducts of construction professionals. hence, the industry is susceptible to ethical erosion, probably due to its heterogeneous nature. construction professionals are therefore not in the good books of private, corporate or public clients and this has attracted topical discourse than any other sector (hong kong ethics department centre (hkedc), 1996; construction industry review committee (circ), 2001; hong kong housing authority (hkha), 2000; ho and ng, 2003). there have been several allegations concerning professional members of the construction industry involving both financial and professional misconducts which created concerns to the public. this led to a lack of trust and confidence of the public that require services of construction professionals and also at the receiving end (mccarty, 2012). the need for a mechanism to checkmate unethical practices is therefore necessary. uff (2003) established that a mechanism to redeem the poor image of the industry is needed. mason (2009) concluded that a single code could be fruitful when observed as part of broader measures for training and promoting ethical conduct in the construction industry. mccarty (2012) study was on developing an australian code of construction ethics. the findings of the study revealed weaknesses which showed codes as remedial that might not provide any framework for decisions in the industry. despite measures put in place to safeguard the image of the industry, literature still revealed that the poor image of the industry, is due to the challenge in the enforcement of ethical standards. based on the available findings from the literature, for the industry to remain in existence, a radical redemption of its image is then inevitable. the nigerian construction industry, therefore, cannot afford to ignore the importance of professional ethics among the practitioners, which in recent years, has been documented to be under severe criticism (alo, 2009). despite seminars, workshops, sensitization and professional development programmes being organised by relevant professional bodies, the literature reveals that the poor image of the industry is due to the challenge in the enforcement of ethical standards which has attracted little attention in the literature. hence, this study, therefore, examines the effectiveness of mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards to mitigate ethical lapses and improve the image of construction professionals and the industry at large. 2. review of literature 2.1 ethical conducts and construction professionals ethical conducts among construction professionals had been of concern generally. badger (1996) assessed the significance of ethical conduct among people working in the industry. it was concluded that professionals should interpret personal ethics as treating others with the same degree of honesty they would like to be treated. as important as professional ethics is in the construction industry, non-adherence to ethical standards can cause a major injury or at times lead to loss of life and even property. this implies that any unethical conduct which the professional is involved in has a direct and adverse effect on human lives (davis, 2001). personal ethics is therefore essential, which is believed to be a reflection of one's background, personality and values. professionals' perspective to ethical conduct can be strongly influenced by the morals and values upheld by an organization in which a professional belongs. irrespective of one's sense of doing what is right or wrong, professionals might be engulfed by the non-observance of professional ethics based on the employing organization. it was, therefore concluded that ethical problems could be directly traced to the organizational culture and leadership in the construction industry (brien, 1998). unethical behaviour is an impediment to economic development and sustainable growth in any given society, especially in developing nations under which nigeria is categorized (ikuabe, 2015). studies on unethical practices in the construction industry abound, and these include bmpiu (2005); olatunji (2008); ayangade, wahab and alake (2009) and ameh and ogundare (2013). the nature and peculiarities of construction activities at times give room for ethical dilemmas both at pre and post contract stages. such activities include contract documentation, obtaining tenders, contract awards, contract administration, procurements of materials, valuation, and stage payments (oyewobi et al., 2011). whenever professionals are involved in any of these unethical practices, the reputation of the industry is questioned. related studies identified bid-cutting, bid-shopping, hidden fees and commissions; and compensations as everyday acts that impinge on professional integrity and make clients lose their confidence in construction professionals (zarkada-fraser & skitmore 2000; may, wilson & skitmore, 2001). vee and siktmore (2003) researched the use of ethical codes in the australian construction industry. findings revealed that the subject matter of ethics never cropped up in business meetings despite the use of ethical codes. ethical issues were examined among construction managers, contractors and sub-contractors in the american construction industry. it was noted that 'reverse auctions' in the procurement process was perceived to be ethical by the american clients; however, this is considered to be unethical by the contractors (doran, 2004). other related studies included identification of problems facing professional environment, which include quality control and how ethical matters are addressed in the organisations (pearl, bowen, makanjee, akintoye & evans, 2005). a comparative investigation of the relationship between professional ethics and construction quality in australia and south africa indicated that corruption, negligence, bribery, conflicts of interest, underbidding, cover pricing, and bid withdrawal affects the quality of construction services (abdul-rahman, wang & yap, 2010). an appraisal of the ethical issues in the kenyan construction industry with a particular focus on professional conduct in engineering technology management was investigated by githui (2011). findings from the study showed that achieving professionalism in b.f. akintola./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 3 the industry depends squarely on the moral and ethical nature of the industry's participants. it was thereby recommended that the main focus should be on espousing moral conduct in service delivery. having examined studies on ethical issues in the construction industry globally, research findings established that what is obtainable in the nigerian construction industry is similar to other countries. however, cases of misconducts among construction professionals are rampant in nigeria (oke, aghimien & aigbavboa, 2017). it can, therefore, be concluded that studies on professional ethics in the construction industry abound, although few were recorded on effective mechanisms for the enforcement of ethical standards in nigeria. this constitutes the focus of this study. the state of corruption in the industry has warranted concerns from various stakeholders (ameh & odusami, 2010a). professional ethics in the nigerian construction industry concerning clients' confidence and satisfaction were assessed (olatunji, 2006). the study established a timely intervention for professionalism in order to avoid the collapse of the industry. oyewobi et al. (2011) examined the determinants of unethical performance in the nigerian construction industry. it was concluded that the industry is more susceptible to unethical problems because of the effect of corruption at the planning, tender and completion stages. also, the study on nigerian building professionals' ethical ideology and ethical judgement revealed that the current socio-political and economic situation in nigeria affects the attitude and ethical practices of construction professionals (ameh & odusami, 2010b). ayodele, ogunbode, ariyo & alabi (2011) identified unethical practices in the nigerian construction industry to include politics in the award of contract, societal corruption and quackery which is the involvement of non-professionals in the industry. the influence of unethical practices on management of construction projects in nigeria was highlighted due to include the absence of punishment for corruption; loss of money due to change in government; lack of continuity in government programmes and availability of loopholes in project monitoring (usman, inuwa & iro, 2012). also, adeyinka, jagboro &ojo (2016) investigated the level of usage of mechanism for enforcement of ethical standards. findings concluded that specifically related mechanism was the most frequently used for enforcement of ethical standards. construction professionals' compliance level with ethical standards was also examined, and results showed that construction professionals have fair compliance with ethical standards (adeyinka, jagboro, ojo & odediran, 2014). according to the reviewed related literature on professional ethics, it is quite clear that research on effective mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards among construction professionals are limited. this is the main focus of the study. identification of effective mechanisms will go a long way in assisting stakeholders in the construction industry, including the clients and the general public to tackle the menace of unethical conducts in the industry. 3. research methodology the study was conducted in lagos metropolis on the premise that lagos state is one of the states in nigeria with the highest number of registered construction professionals in contracting and consultancy organisations. also, 75% of construction firms in nigeria are either based in lagos state or have their branches located there (fagbemi, 2008). the respondents included architects, builders, quantity surveyors, engineers (civil/structural, electrical, & mechanical) estate surveyors, land surveyors and town planners. data were collected through a questionnaire survey administered on professionals in the industry. total of two hundred (200) copies of the questionnaire was administered randomly while 172 retrieved copies of questionnaires were found suitable for analysis. section a of the questionnaire identified the background information of the respondents, while section b contained questions related to mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards as identified from the literature. professionals ranked the level of effectiveness of the identified mechanisms on a scale of 1-5, where 5=most effective, 4=more effective, 3=effective, 2=less effective and 1=not effective. data collected were subjected to analysis using a relative effective index (rei) and factor analysis. the use of relative effective index (rei) or index of relative importance/significance (rii) has been widely used in construction management researches (adebowale & ojo, 2009; ojo, 2010; adeyinka, 2012, opawole, 2015). rei was adapted from common relative index measurement, which is also described as relative importance index (rii) or relative significance index (rsi). in this study, it measures the relative index of effectiveness of mechanism for enforcement of ethical standards. 𝑅𝑆𝐼 = ∑ 𝑛𝑖−𝑘𝑖 4 0 𝑛×𝑅ℎ (1) where ni= number of respondent choosing ki = 1-5 on the likert scale n = the total number of the questionnaire and; rh = the highest value in the ranking order. having determined rei of the mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards, inferential statistics (factor analysis) was conducted to explore the attributes of the variables further and classified them. the extraction method of factor analysis was done through principal components analysis (pca). pca transforms original variables into a smaller set of the linear combination that represents the original set (fellow and liu, 2003). kaisermeyer-olkin measure (kmo) and barlett test of sphericity tests were also carried out to test the suitability of factor analysis data used. 4. result and discussion the background information of the respondents sampled in the study and as presented in table 1 indicate that 38.37% of the respondents are in the government organisations, 33.13% are in the contracting organisations while 28.48% are in consulting organisations. all the organizations were well represented in this survey from which information was gathered. the average year of the establishment of respondents' firms was approximately 18 years. construction professionals surveyed included architects (20.30%), builders (16.28%), quantity 4 b.f. akintola et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 surveyors (18.02%), engineers (19.18%), estate surveyors and valuers (9.30%), land surveyors (8.72%) and town planners (8.14%). the result showed that different professionals and their diverse opinions on the research objectives would enrich the outcome of this study. also, the result revealed that 86.04% had academic qualifications ranging from hnd, pgd, b.sc. and m.sc. also, 86.63% of respondents surveyed are members of their respective professional association, and this indicates that respondents are professionally qualified and the average working experience of the respondents was 19 years. having examined their particulars, it was clear that the information supplied by the respondents can be relied upon. table 1 background information of respondents profile parameters frequency percentage type of organization consulting 49 28.49 contracting 57 33.14 government or public 66 38.37 years of establishment of the firms (mean=17.64 years) 0-10 years 65 37.80 11-20 years 46 26.74 21-30 years 32 18.60 31-40 years 14 8.14 40 -49 years 12 6.98 above 50 3 1.74 years of work experience of the respondents (mean=18.61 years) 0-10 years 54 31.40 11-20 years 49 28.49 21-30 years 35 20.35 31-40 years 24 13.95 >40 years and above 10 5.81 profession of the respondents architects 35 20.35 builders 28 16.28 quantity surveyors 31 18.02 engineers 33 19.19 estate surveyor 16 9.30 land surveyor 15 8.72 town planners 14 8.14 academic qualification of the respondents ond 18 10.47 hnd 37 21.51 b.sc./b.tech. 72 41.86 pgd 24 13.95 m.sc. 15 8.72 phd 6 3.49 professional qualifications of the respondents nigerian institute of architects 31 18.02 nigerian institute of builders 26 15.12 nigerian institute of quantity surveyors 28 16.28 nigerian society of engineers 25 14.53 nigerian institute of estate surveyors and valuers 14 8.14 nigerian institution of surveyors 13 7.56 nigerian institute of town planners 12 6.98 non-professionally qualified 23 13.37 total 172 100.00 4.1 effectiveness of enforcement mechanism the study examined the effectiveness of mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards in the nigerian construction industry. the respondents ranked 50 mechanisms identified from the literature, and the result is as presented in table 2. from the table, relative effective index (rei) values ranged between 0.525 and 0.585. the result shows that all the mechanisms were ranked above average (0.5), signifying a moderate level of effectiveness of mechanisms used for enforcement of ethical standards. some of these mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards include commitments to personal reputation (rei=0.585). this is followed by promotion of civic right (rei=0.582), good citizenry (rei = 0.581), constant checks and control (rei=0.580), disciplinary measures for misconducts (rei=0.580), good building process planning (rei=0.578), sense of social responsibility (rei=0.578), individual willingness to comply (0.580), and personal ethical influence in the organisation (rei=0.577). others are regular review of professional ethics (rei=0.569), implementation of national building codes (rei=0.568), good safety measures (rei=0.580), implementation processes by concerned authority (rei=0.563), standardized & universal procedures for individuals and accreditation (rei=0.561), continuing training for members in the industry (rei=0.543), internal and external project monitoring (rei=0.543), conviction of offenders (rei=0.542), strict compliance with due process in tendering (rei=0.542), protecting the industry image (rei=0.541) and roles of media houses (rei=0.539). b.f. akintola./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 5 table 2: relative effective index of mechanisms for the enforcement of ethical standards effective mechanism rei 1 personal reputation 0.585 2 promotion of civic right 0.582 3 good citizenry 0.581 4 constant checks and control 0.580 5 disciplinary measures for misconduct 0.580 6 good building process planning 0.578 7 sense of social responsibility 0.578 8 licensing regulation 0.577 9 personal ethical influence in the organisation 0.577 10 instilling self-regulation consciousness into members 0.576 11 conformity with codes of ethics 0.576 12 regulation of membership 0.576 13 ensuring compliance with industry best practices 0.575 14 keeping members informed of the latest operational procedures in the industry 0.573 15 individual willingness to comply 0.570 16 periodic review of processes of membership 0.570 17 regular review of professional ethics 0.569 18 implementation of national building codes 0.568 19 good safety measures 0.567 20 implementation processes by the concerned authority 0.563 21 standardized & universal procedures for individual & accreditation 0.561 22 investigation of petition 0.560 23 implementation of continuous professional development 0.557 24 constant reviewing of professional conducts & standards 0.556 25 improving efficiency & accountability 0.555 26 commitment to local community protection and engagement 0.554 27 withdrawing license of erring members 0.552 28 monitoring local industries producing building materials 0.550 29 protecting clients interest in the subject matter 0.548 30 ensuring employees follow compliance rule & regulation 0.546 31 campaigning strict adherence to benchmark standards 0.545 32 sanctions on professional involved in misconducts 0.545 33 continuing training for members in the industry 0.543 34 internal & external project monitoring 0.543 35 conviction of offenders 0.542 36 strict compliance with "due process" in tendering activities 0.542 37 protecting the industry image 0.541 38 automatic alert of changes in laws and regulations 0.540 39 judicial courts 0.540 40 roles of media houses 0.539 41 viewing contract history for future reference 0.538 42 performing compliance risk assessment 0.536 43 virtual evidence room to link activities & documents to related law 0.533 44 performing audits in case of disputes 0.533 45 transparency initiatives 0.533 46 anti-fraud & anticorruption crusade 0.530 47 managing all aspects of the contract via the internet 0.530 48 prosecution of offenders 0.530 49 automatic redlining to easily highlight changes during negotiation 0.526 50 emporium templates for a standard agreement 0.525 where: rk: ranking and rei: relative significant these mechanisms showcase the efforts of individual professionals in the enforcement of ethical standards in the construction industry. nearly all the identified mechanism listed are achievable through the help of an individual professional which depicts that individual professional must have a sense of social responsibility to their clients. social responsibility relevant to the construction industry includes a moral obligation to be a good citizen; sustainability; reputation; relationship with employees and unions; and relationship with suppliers and community representatives. the effectiveness of these mechanisms is, therefore subjected to the individual willingness to comply. also, the roles of government agencies in the enforcement of ethical standards in the industry were identified. this means that if any of the mechanisms will be effective, government as enforcement agency should be firm and strict. it should also be noted that the roles of the industry in managing their activities 6 b.f. akintola et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 are equally important. the least factors are managing all aspects of the contract via the internet, prosecution of offenders, automatic redlining to easily highlight changes during negotiations and enporion templates for standard agreement. the result shows the role of the industry with the technological challenges in the global world, where major contracts deals are carried out via the internet 4.2 principal component analysis (pca) factor analysis through principal components analysis (pca) test was carried out, and the results are shown in table 3. table 3 presented the result of the measure of sampling adequacy test, which was higher than 0.5 and kmo value of 0.970. bartlett's test of sphericity was highly significant (x2=1.956e4, p<0.05). this result implied that factor analysis carried out was suitable for data collected for this study. this conforms with field (2005) submission that for factor analysis to proceed; the value of a set of scores should be closer to 1. also, considering the communalities of the variables, field (2013) defined communality as a measure of the proportion of variance explained by the extracted factors. having 30 variables or more gives communalities greater than 0.7 for all variables; however, less than 20 variables can have communalities less than 0.4 (guadagnoli & velicer, 1988). communalities after extraction are expected to be high to have a reasonable representation (agbabiaka, 2016). from the result in table 4, communalities are higher than 0.70 for all variables. the average communality after extraction is 0.844 (84.4%), which further confirms the suitability and appropriateness of pca. table 5 presented the rotated component matrix, and total variance explained for factor groupings, respectively. four components were identified with the first dominant factor accounting for 68.22% of the observed variance. the cumulative percentage of variance explained by the four mechanisms for enforcement was 84.39%. this means that 84.39% of the common variance shared by 50 variables can be accounted for by four components. these components were grouped, labelled and presented in table 5. table 3: kmo and bartlett's test kaiser-meyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy .970 bartlett's test of sphericity approx. chi-square 1.956e4 df 1225 sig. .000 4.3. interpretation of results table 5 also shows the component factors (mechanisms) for enforcement of ethical standards and the loading items. communalities of the variables loaded under each component factor ranged from 0.773 to 0.911, which gives information about how much of the variance in each item is explained. the first mechanism was stakeholderrole related and accounted for 68.221% of the observed variance and followed by individualrelated that accounted for 9.647%, industry-related that accounted for 3.647% and legal instruments-related that accounted for 3.08%. stakeholder-role related mechanism accounted for 68.22% of the observed variance with nineteen (19) loading items having high loading scores that ranged from 0.809 to 0.604. some of the items loaded with their loading scores include ensuring compliance to industry best practices (0.809), campaign for strict adherence to benchmark standards (0.808) regulation of membership (0.804), keeping members informed of the latest procedures in the industry (0.790), withdrawing licence of erring members (0.798), and constant reviewing of professional conducts and standards (0.783). others are instilling self-regulation consciousness into members (0.779), periodic review of processes of membership (0.771), implementation of continuous professional developments (0.768), standardised & universal procedures for individuals and accreditation (0.761), monitoring local industries producing building materials (0.723), roles of media houses (0.727), protecting the industry image (0.722), internal and external project monitoring (0.720), and monitoring of national building codes (0.708). in addition to these are continuing training for members in the industry (0.708), strict compliance with due process in tendering activities (0.710), implementation of national building codes (0.652) and good building process planning (0.604). the second component was the individual-related mechanism that accounted for 9.44% of the observed variance with fifteen (15) loading items having high loading scores that ranged from 0.840 to 0.767. items loaded were in conformity with codes of ethics (0.842), good safety measures (0.840), the good citizenry (0.839), commitments to local community protection engagement (0.832), sense of social responsibility (0.831) and licensing regulation (0.825). in addition to these are personal reputations (0.824), promotion of civic rights (0.822), regular review of professional ethics (0.821), disciplinary measures for misconduct (0.818), protecting clients' interest in the subject matter (0.810), and individual willingness to comply (0.804). others are a personal ethical influence in the organisation (0.805), implementation processes by concerned authority (0.797) and constant checks and control (0.767). majority of the items loaded under this factor emanated mainly from personal and individual attributes of the professional. the third component was an industry-related mechanism which accounted for 3.64% of the observed variance with ten (10) loading items having high loading scores that ranged from 0.746 to 0.689. these include virtual evidence room to link activities and documents to related laws (0.746), ensuring employees follow compliance rule and regulation (0.745), viewing contract history for future reference (0.744), enporion templates for standards agreement (0.732), automatic alert of changes in laws and regulations (0.732). others were improving efficiency and accountability (0.725), managing all aspects of the contract via the internet (0.724), performing a compliance risk assessment (0.715), performing audits in case of disputes (0.700) and automatic red linning function to easily highlight change during negotiation (0.689). it was noted that all these items indicated the roles of the industry in enforcements of ethical practices. b.f. akintola./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 7 the fourth component was the legal instruments-related mechanism that accounted for 3.08% of the observed variance with six (6) loading items having high loading scores that ranged from 0.737 to 0.691. these include prosecution of offenders (0.737), anti-fraud and anticorruption crusade (0.729), investigation of the petition (0.722), the conviction of offenders (0.715), transparency initiatives (0.701) and judicial courts (0.691) — all these items related to a legal instrument of ethical enforcement. table 4: communalities before and after s/no variables initial extraction 1. promotion of civic right 1.000 .825 2. sense of social responsibility 1.000 .842 3. good citizenry 1.000 .826 4. personal reputation 1.000 .773 5. good safety measures 1.000 .821 6. commitment to local community protection and engagement 1.000 .819 7. constant checks and control 1.000 .783 8. licensing regulation 1.000 .847 9. conformity with codes of ethics 1.000 .866 10. disciplinary measures for misconduct 1.000 .823 11. regular review of professional ethics 1.000 .851 12. protecting clients interest in the subject matter 1.000 .838 13. individual willingness to comply 1.000 .828 14. implementation processes by the concerned authority 1.000 .815 15. personal ethical influence in the organization 1.000 .839 16. investigation of petition 1.000 .881 17. conviction of offenders 1.000 .874 18. prosecution of offenders 1.000 .885 19. anti fraud & anticorruption crusade 1.000 .892 20. transparency initiatives 1.000 .854 21. judicial courts 1.000 .844 22. good building process planning 1.000 .784 23. implementation of national building codes 1.000 .825 24. monitoring local industries producing building materials 1.000 .853 25. continuing training for members in the industry 1.000 .790 26. sanctions on professional involved in misconducts 1.000 .818 27. strict compliance to "due process" in tendering activities 1.000 .843 28. internal & external project monitoring 1.000 .819 29. roles of media houses 1.000 .823 30. protecting the industry image 1.000 .833 31. instilling self-regulation consciousness into their members 1.000 .853 32. regulation of membership 1.000 .866 33. ensuring compliance with industry best practices 1.000 .862 34. constant reviewing of professional conducts & standard 1.000 .845 35. withdrawing license of erring members 1.000 .815 36. campaigning strict adherence to benchmark standards 1.000 .885 37. implementation of continuous professional development 1.000 .804 38. periodic review of processes of membership 1.000 .815 39. keeping members informed of the latest operational procedures in the industry 1.000 .847 40. standardized & universal procedures for individual & accreditation 1.000 .845 41. improving efficiency & accountability 1.000 .858 42. ensuring employees follow compliance rule & regulation 1.000 .874 43. automatic alert of changes in laws and regulations 1.000 .879 44. performing compliance risk assessment 1.000 .877 45. virtual evidence room to link activities & documents to related law 1.000 .890 46. performing audits in case of disputes 1.000 .893 47. viewing contract history for future reference 1.000 .894 48. enporion templates for a standard agreement 1.000 .911 49. managing all aspects of the contract via the internet 1.000 .846 50. automatic red linning function to easily highlight changes during negotiation 1.000 .824 8 b.f. akintola et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 table 5: factor loadings and total variance explained of effectiveness of mechanism for enforcement of ethical standards components factor loadings total % of the total variance explained % of the total cummulative variance explained stakeholder-role related 34.111 68.221 68.221 good building process planning .604 implementation of national building codes .652 monitoring local industries producing building materials .723 continuing training for members in the industry .708 sanctions on professional involved in misconducts .708 strict compliance with "due process" in tendering activities .710 internal & external project monitoring .720 roles of media houses .727 protecting the industry image .722 instilling self-regulation consciousness into members .779 regulation of membership .804 ensuring compliance with industry best practices .809 constant reviewing of professional conducts & standard . 783 withdrawing license of erring members .781 campaigning strict adherence to benchmark standards .808 implementation of continuous professional development .768 periodic review of processes of membership .771 keeping members informed of the latest operational procedures in the industry .790 standardized universal procedures for individual & accreditation .761 individual-related 4.720 9.647 77.662 promotion of the civic right .822 sense of social responsibility .831 good citizenry .839 personal reputation .824 good safety measures .840 commitment to local community protection and engagement .832 constant checks and control .767 licensing regulation .825 conformity with codes of ethics .842 disciplinary measures for misconduct .818 regular review of professional ethics .821 protecting clients interest in the subject matter .810 individual willingness to comply .804 implementation processes by the concerned authority .797 personal ethical influence in the organisation .805 industry-related 1.823 3.647 81.309 improving efficiency & accountability .725 ensuring that employees follow a compliance rule and regulation .745 automatic alert of changes in laws and regulations .731 performing compliance risk assessment .715 virtual evidence room to link activities & documents to related law .746 performing audits in case of disputes .700 viewing contract history for future reference .744 enporion templates for a standard agreement .732 managing all aspects of the contract via the internet .724 automatic red linning function to easily highlight changes during negotiation .689 legal-instruments related 1.544 3.088 84.396 investigation of petition .722 conviction of offenders .715 prosecution of offenders .737 anti fraud & anticorruption crusade .729 transparency initiatives .701 judicial courts .691 extraction method: principal component analysis. rotation method: varimax with kaiser normalization. rotation converged in six iterations. b.f. akintola./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 9 4.4. discussion of findings the results of rei on the effectiveness of mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards revealed highly ranked mechanism for enforcement of ethical standards to include commitments to local protection and engagement, personal reputation, good citizenry, individual willingness to comply, good safety measures and promotion of civil rights. others included withdrawing license from erring members and conviction of offenders. these mechanisms were also highly loaded by principal component analysis (pca). these mechanisms originated from individuals, which re-emphasises that the effectiveness of any mechanisms can be achieved and be fruitful through the commitments of the individual professional. this calls for the sense of social responsibility from all the stakeholders in the industry. the result affirmed the assertion that professionals must have a sense of social responsibility to their clients and companies should develop corporate social responsibility (csr) in order to maintain an image of being a good corporate citizen (petrovic‐lazarevic, 2008). social responsibilities relevant to the construction industry include moral obligation to be a good citizen, sustainability, reputation, relationship with employees and unions. the results from factor analysis identified four effective mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards. the first one was stakeholder-role relatedmechanism. items loaded under this component included instilling self-regulation consciousness into members, ensuring compliance to industry best practices, regulation of membership, implementation of national building codes and implementation of continuous professional developments. others were good building process planning and monitoring of national building codes. least items under this factor were continuing training for members in the industry, withdrawing license from erring members. this mechanism and the loading items indicated the combination of governments' legislation and professional bodies' roles in combating corruption in the construction industry. all stakeholders must work together to sanitize and change the public perception about the industry. this can be achieved through the implementation of code of ethics, conduct and practice. construction stakeholders like government are saddled with the responsibilities of enforcing ethical standards among practitioners through the establishment of code of practice which can be living documents through implementation by the government (ho and ng, 2003). the findings corroborated ladd (1991) that code of conduct includes principles, values, standards, or rule of behaviour guiding decisions, procedures and systems of an organisation in a way that contributes to the welfare of the stakeholders and respects the right of all individuals affected by its operations. through this, the profession is regulated while the responsibilities of professionals are spelt out clearly. this also affirmed vee and skitmore (2003) that a clearer picture of behaviour considered ethical, correct or right are provided through code of conduct. effective mechanisms for enforcements of ethical standards included implementation of national building codes, good building process planning, monitoring local industries that are producing building materials and strict compliance to “due process” in tendering activities. this is in agreement with nduese (2010) that curbing the incidence of collapsed buildings must involve the implementation of 2005 national building codes. if these codes are implemented, it will take care of building materials and specifications used. implementation involves following good building planning process as well as compliance with due process in all contract processes, which reduces unethical conducts. also, the roles of professional associations cannot be underrated. professional bodies are to make professional developments compulsory for all the members, and this can be achieved through conferences, seminars and workshops. also, professional bodies should be firm in withdrawing the license of the erring members, which will make other professionals that wish to defaults to decline from unethical practices. findings agreed with sohail and cavil (2008) that professional associations have a critical role in regulating the conduct of her members. besides, all construction stakeholders should exhibit the hallmark of professional excellence through adherence to ethics, values, competence and integrity (usman et al., 2012). the second component was individual-related mechanism and items loaded under this mechanism included commitments to local community protection and engagement, personal reputation, good citizenry, good safety measures and individual willingness to comply. others are a sense of social responsibility and implementation by the concerned authority. these items were expected to be loaded high because no amount of laid down regulations will yield positive results if concerned personality is unwilling to comply. items loaded under this mechanism originated from personal and individual factors which affect the moral behaviour of professionals. this conformed with ukoha (2004) that values influences man's choice and have a significant effect on his behaviour, which is traceable to the background and upbringing of an individual. as strong as ethical codes are, their success lies in the personality's willingness to comply with the principles espoused in the codes. codes are not strong enough to alter behaviours themselves except personality concerned (allen & davis, 1993). nduka (2004) argued that personality is expressed in the form of values, desires, interests, goals, approvals/disapprovals, preferences and standards. the civic right is promoted when professionals possess good personal reputation. professionals should note their actions influence the life of others, the environment and the general public. values, therefore, occupy a central position in all human endeavours and form the basis for social interaction in every society. human survival depends mostly on their roles in transmitting essential value patterns to the incoming generations (gibson, 2011). conclusively, on this component, the issue of personal responsibility cannot be ruled out in enforcing ethical standards. personal responsibility of professionals should be the foundation as well as the sustenance of ethical standards in the industry. the third component was an industry-related mechanism with items such as performing audits in case of disputes, automatic alert, ensuring employees comply with the rules and regulations of changes in law and 10 b.f. akintola et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 1-12 regulation, virtual evidence room to link activities and documents to related laws. other mechanisms are an automatic red linning function to easily highlight changes during the negotiation and managing all aspects of the contract via the internet. these mechanisms generated from compliance software programmes used in construction industries for enforcement of ethical practices is technology-based and also expensive. the result indicates the roles of the industry in enforcements of ethical practices. the industry should ensure relevant software in construction-related fields is available to enable the professionals to perform optimally. also, the industry should create awareness for their employees to operate and exert a strong influence on the ways professionals obliged to conduct their affairs in contemporary society. findings supported lawton (2005) that organisations have duties to their employees regarding their concerns for the public interest. the ethical orientations of organisations should be based on the interests and needs of clients. furthermore, the industry should be current and well equipped always to be relevant with the latest technological advancement in meeting clients' expectations and needs, especially in this fast-growing technological age. the fourth component for enforcements of ethical standards was legal-instruments’ related-mechanism. items loaded under this include conviction of offenders investigation of petition, anti-fraud and anti-corruption crusade, prosecution of offenders and judicial courts, and transparency initiatives. employing legal instruments related factor reduces unethical practices because lack of punishment for individuals involved in corruption is one of the factors influencing unethical practices (usman et al., 2012), and leading to different anomalies in the construction industry (githui, 2011 & ayodele et al., 2011). these might question the effectiveness of regulatory agencies in curbing corruption and related financial offences. functions of these agencies include receiving, investigating petitions, and prosecute the offenders in appropriate cases. also, they advise the government and educate the public and thereby foster their supports against corruption (ajibola, 2006). based on the research findings, legal-instruments related factor was the least component for enforcement of ethical standards. legal instruments may only be effective in combating unethical practices in the construction industry if they are put in place and justices are administered fearlessly. appropriate actions should be taken when unethical practices occur irrespective of the personality involved in which the rule of law should not be a respecter of persons. the menace of unethical practices in the industry can be curbed through the effective application of legal instruments that serve as deterrents to others. also, the sector should be bold to convict offenders, and no individual should be considered to be above the law. a very weak legal framework, tainted judiciary and collapsed system of administration will not make the construction industry win the battle of corruption. instead, a firm and brunt justice system is required. 5. conclusion and recommendations this paper assessed the effective mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards in the nigerian construction industry. it was concluded that the impact of stakeholders, individuals, industry and the rule of law are effective mechanisms for enforcement of ethical standards. the study thereby recommends 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(2003). professional ethics in the construction industry. engineering, construction and architectral management, 19(21), 117-127. 1257-samuel_joseph_et.al_no.1_final jcbm (2022) 6(1) 1-16 sustainable construction transition (sct) policy regime in kenya 1samuel joseph, 2anthony ralwala, 3isabella wachira-towey and 4emmanuel mutisya_ 1, 2, 3 & 4department of real estate, construction management and quantity surveying, university of nairobi, kenya received 25 august 2022; received in revised form 04 september 2022, 27 october 2022 and 19 january 2023; accepted 16 march 2023 https://doi.org/10.1564/jcbm.6.1.1257 abstract the global construction industry is lagging in transitioning to sustainability, and the kenyan construction industry is not excluded. as a result, and in response, there are kenyan policies with specific provisions on sct. despite this progress, there is limited empirical research on their scope and implementation dynamics. against this backdrop, this study examined kenya's sct policy regime regarding its priorities, instruments, and stakeholder orientation, including any inherent shortcomings. this aimed to make appropriate recommendations for an improved sct policy regime to enhance and optimise industry sct performance. qualitative research design, specifically, qualitative content analysis technique, was used to analyse the 34 policy documents identified. the findings indicate that the regime: priorities – primarily focus on environmental sustainability targeting strategic and tactical implementation levels with minimal focus on sct socioeconomic objectives and operational level of implementation, which reduces its comprehensiveness; instruments – driven by regulations, the constitution, and acts of parliament, as well as codes, guidelines, and plans, from multiple sources, primarily aimed at regulation and control and not the other policy instruments functions hence not delivering on their full potential; and, stakeholder orientation – primarily targeting developers/owners/occupiers and government with less focus on the other stakeholders and thus not leveraging their specific roles in sct supply chain. the resulting recommendations were: priorities – need for improved focus on sct's socio-economic objectives and operational level of implementation; instruments – need for a central database and leveraging them to support economic incentives, supporting activities, liability compensation, education and information, voluntary programs, and management and planning; and, stakeholder orientation – improved targeting of contractors, suppliers/producers/manufacturers, professional consultants, non-governmental and civil society organisations, and media. lastly, given that this study focused on sct policy evaluation, future research can focus on other parts of the policy-making process. keywords: business, construction, content analysis, kenya, performance, planning, policy regime, south africa, strategy, sustainability, sustainable construction transition (sct). 1. introduction construction industries worldwide are part and parcel of current sustainability concerns owing to their known negative sustainability impacts (economic, environmental, and social) (dania, 2016:1). economically, sustainable construction (sc) is aimed at enhancing profitability through efficiency in resource usage (woodall et al., 2004). resource usage inefficiency in the industry has been observed in relation to a large share of global energy use; greenhouse gas emissions related to energy use; waste generation; and natural resources usage, including undesirable resources fluctuation in the construction phase (united nations environment programme (unep), 2021; lamka et al., 2018). kats (2003:85) argued that the benefits of ensuring economic sustainability as a priority include acceptable 1 corresponding author email address: skksamwel@gmail.com/skksamwel@uonbi.ac.ke project lifecycle costs. additionally, an economically sustainable entity is more likely to practice environmental sustainability due to implied resource efficiency (du plessis, 2002:16-17). environmentally, sc is aimed at water, materials, land, and energy conservation (woodall et al., 2004). according to unep (2011), “… the construction sector is also responsible for more than a third of global material resource consumption, including 12% of all freshwater use …” p.20. additionally, “… the built environment accounts for a large share of energy (estimated to be about 40% of global energy use) …” (unep, 2021). kats (2003:85) highlights that if environmental sustainability concerns are prioritised and appropriately implemented, they could enhance environmental quality and acceptable use of energy and natural resources. university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm 2 samuel joseph et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 1-16 socially, sc aims to ensure the industry meets its moral and legal obligations to its stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle (adetunji et al., 2003; woodall et al., 2004). according to pocock et al. (2016), construction projects often fail to meet social expectations due to adopted sustainability approaches prevailing over local conditions. the social facet of sc focuses on legal land acquisition; local culture sensitivity; water and energy efficiency; safety of built facilities; thermal comfort; extent of local communities' engagement; extent of use of locally available materials; locally understood construction methods; and, use of sustainable and affordable local construction materials. du plessis (2002:15-16) postulates that disregard of these aspects is evidenced by unethical practices, such as corruption and gender discrimination, low compliance with pre-set health and safety regulations, and unjust labour practices. according to kats (2003:67), the benefits of observing social sustainability as a priority include improved wellbeing of involved stakeholders; and an overall reduction in terms of turnover of employees and employee work absenteeism. this study adopted the view postulated by joseph (2019:22) and esezobor (2016:28) that the environmental facet houses the social facet, which in turn houses the economic facet. a radical transformation in the design, construction, operation, and decommissioning phases of built facilities is needed if the identified socio-environmental concerns are to be significantly addressed (green africa foundation, 2018:7). it is from this realisation that the need for the construction industry to shift from its conventional mode of operation (production and consumption) to a comparatively sustainable alternative, sc, emanates (du plessis, 2002:8-9; ofori, 2007:5). this shift has been identified to be both radical and sociotechnical, and is commonly referred to as sustainability transition (st)/sustainability transformation (elzen et al., 2004; grin et al., 2010; blythe et al., 2018) and by extension for the construction industry sustainable construction transition (sct). this involves adopting sc practices throughout the lifecycle of constructed facilities or part thereof. according to du plessis (2002:8-9), sc is a wholesome process whose goal is to revitalise and ensure balance at the interface between natural and built environments while at the same time enhancing the quality of life by upholding the dignity and economic equity of the human populace individually and collectively. it has also been observed that the construction industry is lagging in transitioning toward sustainability compared to other sectors (glass, 2012). the kenyan construction industry is not excluded from the lagging transition to sustainability in the global construction industry. this is exemplified by: economically – inefficient resource usage (lamka et al., 2018:283-284; unep, 2018:21); environmentally – minimal uptake of green buildings. as of 16 june 2021, there were 28 green buildings totalling 1,319,390 square metres (gbig, 2021) against a [projected] building stock of 41 million square metres (ifc, 2017), representing a mere 3.2% green building stock and socially – inefficiently meet legal and moral obligations to industry stakeholders on fronts such as gender inequity, including low skills and knowledge enhancement (nca, 2014:7,8), low observance of construction site health and safety (kemei et al., 2015:6) and sick building syndrome symptoms (sbss) (marete and waweru, 2016:2). as a result, and in response, there are numerous kenyan policies with specific provisions that support sct. it is also worth noting that there is limited literature on sc and sct in the kenyan construction industry. this study sought to fill this gap by answering the research question – what is the nature of the kenyan sct policy regime in terms of its: (i) priorities; (ii) instruments; and (iii) stakeholder orientation, including (any) inherent shortcomings? this ultimately aimed to develop contextappropriate recommendations for an improved policy regime as an avenue for enhanced sct performance by the kenyan construction industry. 2. sustainable construction transition (sct) the built environment is a complex system that supports societal needs such as housing and recreation, has a significantly longer lifespan and involves many stakeholders. additionally, the interaction of the built environment system with the ecological system has resulted in well-documented negative impacts on the latter. specifically, these negative impacts have been observed to be comparatively less noticeable and documented at constructed facility scale compared to the same but at the planetary scale over time (vanegas and pearce, 2000:406-407). this has led to an increased focus on the contribution of the built environment by the various stakeholders. owing to its known direct and indirect contribution to this problem, the construction industry has seen increasing restrictions to minimise negative ecological impacts. these have assumed different forms, which include regulations, laws, standards and pressure from other stakeholders, such as civil society. however, some industry players, such as design and construction entities, see compliance with these restrictions as a challenge to be overcome as opposed to a means of reaping sc benefits for themselves and others (kinlaw, 1992, as cited in vanegas and pearce, 2000:407). drivers for sct have been identified to include: negative ecological impacts; resource degradation and depletion; and, lastly, impacts on human health. it, however worth noting that sct embeds the traditional project priorities of time, cost, quality and minimising adverse impacts in the context of sustainability (vanegas and pearce, 2000:407-408). negative sustainability impacts of the construction industry have been characterised as worse in developing nations, such as kenya, compared to developed nations. this is exacerbated by comparatively fewer resources to deal with the sustainability challenges. on a positive note, underdevelopment in these nations offers room for a better and sustainable future. the urgency of ensuring sc in these developing nations has two main drivers: active ongoing construction activity implying continued unsustainability in case of inaction (failure to transition towards sc); and increased demand on already limited resources. it is also worth noting that the socio-economic sustainability dimensions have received more attention in practice compared to the biophysical dimension, which has been left mainly at the research and scholarly level samuel joseph et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 1-16 3 (du plessis, 2002:21). joseph (2019:83) observed different findings where the ranking of the key sc priorities in the kenyan construction industry ranked as social, environmental and economical in order of decreasing importance. it is clear in both that the environmental aspect of sc is not a major practice concern in developing nations which du plessis (ibid:21) associates with pressing socio-economic challenges. for sts, such as sct, and as advanced by loorbach et al. (2017), change is from one state of dynamic equilibrium experiencing sustainability challenges to comparatively sustainable alternatives. they aim to change entrenched consumption and production patterns in society's ways of doing things (geels, 2004; kohler et al., 2019; markard et al., 2012), including associated assumptions, rules and practices (rotmans et al., 2001). kemp and lente (2011) postulate that sts also change how goods, services and systems are perceived and facilitate change in established socio-technical systems. sts are heavily biased towards the public good rather than individual gains (geels, 2011; kohler et al., 2019). these transitions involve many elements, such as infrastructure and supply chains, with complex interactions on matters such as economics and power (unruh, 2000; geels, 2011; kohler et al., 2019). these transition processes take a long time to execute, ranging from one generation – 25 years (rotmans et al., 2001), up to 50 years (markard et al., 2012) or even decades, as discussed in kohler et al. (2019). their implementation requires the input of the stakeholders at individual, corporate and institutional levels drawn from learning/research institutions, civil society, political structure, sectors and households (markard et al., 2012; kohler et al., 2019). three implementation levels have been advanced for sct: strategic – industry level and long-term; tactical – firm level and medium-term; and operational – project level and short-term (cruz et al., 2019). gilham (2010:126,140) emphasised the role of non-governmental organisations (ngos) and civil society organisations (csos) in sct as a driver through a watchdog role, collaborating with research institutions to craft and disseminate new practices and technologies; and independent monitoring and evaluation of industry performance. graham et al. (2003:4) additionally emphasised the central role of media in governance, and by extension, sct governance, as argued in this study, in the following ways: relaying information among sectors, resulting in opinion-shaping, and promoting accountability. mechanisms and instruments employed to influence change, such as sct, have been identified to have the potential to back: regulation and control; economic incentives; supporting activities; liability/damage compensation; education; information; voluntary programs; and, management and planning (chang, 2016:106; lafferty, 2004:6; oecd, 2001:132, 135-136). sc demand drivers in sct have been identified as personal and selfless motivations; social responsibility; and economic and financial motivations (onuaha et al., 2017:23-24). additionally, drivers of sc supply in sct have been identified as better returns; project financing incentives; positive price signals from existing sc investments; marketing strategies; lifecycle cost savings; attractive tax incentives; sc skills availability; supportive policies; sc certifications, awards and recognition; and, ethical motivations (onuaha et al., 2016:500-502; diyana and abidin, 2013:916-917). the kenyan government's sct plan for the period 2016-2030 was identified as follows: greening 75% of new and renovated private and public buildings, increasing stakeholders' green training programmes, and increasing the number of adopted green building standards. this aims to deliver a built environment that is: comparatively greener, more efficient and with rationalised water; and energy use. this is all aimed at ensuring sustainability in the design, construction and operation of constructed facilities. the key stakeholders in this plan were identified as national construction authority (nca); universities; county governments; private actors; architectural association of kenya (aak); institution of engineers of kenya (iek); and the ministry of transport, infrastructure, housing and urban development (mtihud) under the leadership of ministry of lands and physical planning (mlpp). this 15-year plan was estimated to cost 5 billion kenyan shillings (ministry of environment and natural resources, 2016a:38). according to green africa foundation (2018:21), similar efforts at the national level are evident in the kenya building research centre's strategic plan 2017/2018 – 2021/2022. this plan, with specific reference to sc, is aimed at the mainstream green building; researching sc materials; and developing supporting policies, guidelines and regulations for the kenyan construction industry. irrespective of this progress, there is limited empirical research on its scope and implementation dynamics. 3. research methodology this study adopted a qualitative research design approach. this was informed by inductive research reasoning used to answer the research question. this approach is comparatively less structured. there are no presuppositions, and it is aimed at gaining a deep understanding of a phenomenon (sutrisna, 2009). additionally, a 3-step policy system analysis approach from previous policy studies, and as employed in a similar study on the chinese sc policy system (see chang, 2016:102), was adopted: policy identification; description and analysis of identified policy; and lastly, discussion of inherent challenges. sct-related policy documents with specific sct specific provisions by the kenyan government were identified through the manual screening. the identified sct policy system components were described and analysed through qualitative content analysis. as postulated by zhang and wildemuth (2005:24) and adopted in chang (2016:103), the qualitative content analysis took the following key steps: data preparation; definition of the unit of analysis/coding units; developing coding units' categories; coding; analysis; and, reporting findings. the identified current policy documents were downloaded from relevant government authorities’ databases and manually screened for data preparation. only those with sct-specific provisions were selected/found appropriate for further analysis. 4 samuel joseph et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 1-16 figure 1: kenyan sct policy regime specifically, this study identified 34 sct-related policy documents. for the unit of analysis, the basic coding unit was defined as the individual policy themes as recommended by zhang and wildemuth (ibid:3). as such, codes were assigned for texts of any length representing a singular theme. lastly, the identified policy documents were coded, labelling text to facilitate analysis. additionally, the resulting data was further analysed to categorise the coding units into a high-order category inherent in the research question: priorities, instruments, and stakeholder orientation. the categories were additionally analysed to reveal shortcomings, if any, and the resulting findings were reported. 4. results 4.1 overview green africa foundation (2018:16-21) identified some sct-related policy documents that were not included in the 34 sct policy documents analysed for the following reasons: replacement by newer versions (which have been included), not being explicit about the relationship between their provisions and sct; and lastly, being draft guidelines that have now been ratified. based on their specific sct-related provisions, and priorities, the policy documents were first classified as focused on: economic, environmental, and social facets of sct as the first coding stream. additionally, based on document type and instruments, they could be further grouped as subsidiary legislation/regulations; constitution and acts of parliament; and codes, guidelines and plans – the second coding stream. lastly, based on their provisions and stakeholder orientation, they targeted different industry stakeholders: government (national and county); developers/occupiers/owners; professional consultants; contractors; and suppliers/manufacturers/producers – third coding stream. tables 1 – 3 outline the specific sct policy documentation identified as differentiated into the 3 coding streams identified above. this includes briefly describing the provision used to inform the coding decision for the second and third coding streams. the preceding discussion, including contents of tables 1-3, is summarised in figure 1. kenyan sct policy regime characterization priorities instruments stakeholder orientation economically oriented: 6/34 policy documents socially oriented: 12/34 policy documents (includes 2no. drafts – table 3) environmental oriented: 30/34 policy documents (includes 4no. drafts – tables 1 and 3) codes, guidelines and plans: 11/34 policy documents (includes 2no. drafts – table 3) constitution and acts of parliament: 11/34 policy documents regulations: 12/34 policy documents (includes 2no. drafts – table 1) professional consultants: 10/34 policy documents (includes 2no. drafts – table 3) suppliers/producers/ manufacturers: 14/34 policy documents (includes 3no. drafts – tables 1 and 3) contractors: 15/34 policy documents (includes 4no. drafts – tables 1 and 3) government (national and county): 19/34 policy documents (includes 2no. drafts – table 3) developers/owners/ occupiers: 21/34 policy documents (includes 3no. drafts – tables 1 and 3) 5 table 1: kenyan sct policy regime – regulations/subsidiary legislation policy instruments: regulations/subsidiary legislation policy document sct related provision sct priorities stakeholder target 1. the environmental management and coordination (conservation of biological diversity and resources, access to genetic resources and benefit sharing) regulations 2006 prohibits all activities, such as construction, that have impact on any ecosystem. it also requires eia for all activities, such as construction, that may lead to unsustainable use of natural resources preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets developers 2. the environmental management and coordination (water quality) regulations 2006 covers: prevention of water pollution/control of effluent discharge; acceptable domestic, industrial, wastewater for irrigation and recreation water standards; and, protection of water sources water conservation (environmental) targets contractors, water suppliers, owners/operators of industrial facilities, irrigation schemes and water bodies used for recreation purposes 3. the environmental management and coordination (waste management) regulations 2006 guides the management of waste (solid, industrial, hazardous, pesticides and toxic substances, biomedical and radioactive), which are common/possible during the construction and operation phases of constructed facilities preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets developers/owners/occupiers and contractors 4. the environmental (impact assessment and audit) (amendment) regulations 2009 outline the rules on eia procedure (including environmental auditing and monitoring), which applies to construction projects, including registration of eia experts preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets developers and eia experts/professionals 5. the environmental management and coordination (noise and excessive vibration pollution) (control) regulations 2009 regulations provide standards on maximum allowable noise and vibrations from a constructed facility, construction site, demolition site, mines and quarries (including associated licensing and exclusions) protecting human health and comfort (social) targets developers/owners/occupiers of constructed facilities, contractors and suppliers of building materials (raw or finished) sourced from mines and quarries 6 samuel joseph et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 1-16 6. the environmental management and coordination (wetlands, riverbanks, lake shores and sea shore management) regulations 2009 requires environmental impact assessment (eia) for endeavours, such as construction, with adverse effects on wetlands, riverbanks and shores land and water conservation (environmental) targets developers 7. the energy (energy management) regulations 2012 on energy consumption management in industrial, commercial and institutional constructed facilities energy conservation (environmental) and operation cost rationalization (economic) targets developers/owners/occupiers of constructed facilities 8. the energy (solar water heating) regulations 2012 requires installation and use of solar water heating systems for all constructed facilities using above 100litres of hot water daily energy conservation (environmental) and operation cost rationalization (economic) targets developers/owners/occupiers and design phase professionals 9. the environmental management and coordination (e-waste management) draft regulations 2013 these draft regulations cover registration and responsibilities of e-waste producers and recyclers (including generators such as constructed facilities or sites). they additionally outline the responsibilities of collection centres, refurbishers/repairers including guidelines on control and handling preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets developers/owners/occupiers and contractors 10. the environmental management and coordination (air quality) regulations 2014 provides guidelines on prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution from stationary sources such as paint manufacturing plants and mobile sources such as vehicles used in construction (including indoor air quality) environmental producers, contractors and developers/owners/occupiers of premises 11. the energy (appliance’s energy performance and labelling) regulations 2016 standards on energy performance rating and labelling of appliances used during the construction and operation phases of constructed facilities such as lamps, refrigerators, motors, and, non-ducted air conditioners energy conservation (environmental) and operation cost rationalization (economic) targets suppliers/manufacturers/producers 12. the draft environmental management and coordination (toxic and these regulations cover the management of hazardous industrial chemicals and materials, such as asbestos in construction, management on: classification; preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural targets contractors and suppliers 7 hazardous industrial chemicals and materials management) regulations 2019 registration; labelling; packaging; advertising; manufacturing, importing; exporting; distribution; storage; transportation; and, handling environment (environmental) table 2: kenyan sct policy regime – constitution and acts of parliament policy instruments: constitution and acts of parliament policy document sct related provision sct priorities stakeholder target 1. the employment act 2007 prohibits: forced labour; discrimination in employment; and, sexual harassment. it also provides guidelines on: protection of wages; basic minimum conditions in employment; protection of children; and, employment disputes ensuring the construction industry meets its moral and legal obligations to its stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle (social) targets governments (national and county), developers/owners/occupiers, professional consultants, contractors and suppliers 2. the occupational safety and health act 2007 outlines the duties of facilities occupiers, selfemployed persons, employees, designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers in ensuring health, safety and welfare in the context of workplaces ensuring human well-being (social) targets contractors, consultants, developers/owners/occupiers, designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers 3. the work injury benefits act 2007 provides guidelines on employees (including government employees) compensation, by their employers, due to occupational related diseases, disablement (temporary or permanent) and death ensuring human well-being (social) targets governments (national and county), developers/owners/occupiers, professional consultants, contractors and suppliers amongst other related employers 4. the kenyan constitution 2010 article 10 (2) – identifies sd as a national governance value and principle article 42 – identify the right to clean and healthy environment for everyone covers the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) all – targets governments (national and county), developers/owners/occupiers, professional consultants, contractors and suppliers/manufacturers/producers 5. the national construction act 2011 nca (a national organization) is empowered to conduct/commission research and advise the relevant cabinet secretary on any matter relating to the construction industry, not excluding sc this covers all the three facets of sc (economic, environmental and social) targets national government 8 samuel joseph et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 1-16 6. the public health act 2012 requires prevention and removal of nuisance in relation to, but not limited to: unsafe accumulation of materials; chimney discharging significant amounts of smoke; land in state that poses health risk; factory or business facilities unsafe emissions; and, effluents and buildings situated, erected, used or maintained in a manner that is injurious to human health preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) and ensuring human wellbeing (social) targets county governments and developers/owners/occupiers 7. the environmental management and coordination (amendment) act 2015 cabinet secretary in charge of environment mandated to set the national environment protection direction; nema and county environment committees established to supervise and coordinate all matters environment nationally and in counties respectively; specifies the nature of construction projects and construction related endeavours for which eia is mandatory; and, environmental offences (such as inspection, eia, pollution related) preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets government (national and county), developers, contractors, producers, and, eia experts/professionals 8. the climate change act 2016 one of the aims of the act is to mainstream climate change sensitivity, including sd, in the planning, execution and decision making of developments preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets national and county governments 9. the water act 2016 on regulation, management and development of sewerage and water services and establishes national water harvesting and storage authority partly charged with developing and enforcing water harvesting policy water conservation (environmental) targets national and county governments 10. the energy act 2019 cabinet secretary on energy to: promote the development and use of renewable energy such as biomass; and, energy efficiency and conservation nationally preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets national and county governments 11. the physical and land use planning act 2019 sets out to, amongst other objectives, provide a multilevel (national, county and local) framework for sustainable land use, planning and management preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets national and county governments 9 table 3: kenyan sct policy regime – codes, guidelines and plans policy instruments: codes, guidelines and plans policy document sct related provision sct priorities stakeholder target 1. building code (current) – the local government (adoptive by-laws) (building) order 1968; and, the local government (adoptive by-laws) (grade ii building) order 1968 has provisions on: statutory requirements for development approvals; requiring buildings to be sited in a manner ensuring hygienic and sanitary conditions and avoiding nuisance to neighbouring owners and/or occupiers; safety and protection of persons affected by construction works; and, building materials requirements in relation to aspects such as structural soundness, fire safety and weatherproofing preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) and ensuring the industry meets its moral and legal obligations to its stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle (social) targets professional consultants, owners, developers and occupiers, contractors, suppliers and local governments 2. ministry of lands (2009) sessional paper no. 3 of 2009 on national land policy – sections 140 and 141 recommends: prohibition of untreated waste, a byproduct of the operation phase of constructed facilities, into water bodies; promoting and mandating segregation and labelling of waste to ease its management; regulation of all quarrying and excavation activities; promoting re-use of urban waste; developing guideline on dumpsites rehabilitation; mandating eia and environmental audit for development activities likely to degrade the environment; environmental degradation monitoring; polluter pays principle enforcement; and, ensuring public participation in environmental management preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets developers/owners/occupiers, contractors and suppliers/manufacturers/produ cers 3. the (proposed) planning and building regulations 2009 partly aims at promoting optimal resource usage and enhancing convenience, health and safety in relation to construction sites and constructed facilities. it provides guidelines on: accessibility of constructed facilities; energy efficiency and thermal comfort; water harvesting; conducive indoor air quality; prohibition of objectionable sewerage discharge; prohibition of dangerous demolition methods; control of dust and noise from excavation, erection or demolition work; appropriate disposal of waste materials; and, standards for various installations such as water closets amongst other provisions preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) and ensuring the industry meets its moral and legal obligations to its stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle (social) targets government (national and county), professional consultants, building owners and occupiers, contractors and suppliers 4. energy regulatory commission (erc) (2013) erc baselines and benchmarks and the designation of industrial, commercial and institutional energy users in kenya – this study facilitated development of baselines and benchmarks for energy performance and designation of energy users (industrial, commercial and institutional). this was intended to raise awareness and facilitate energy conservation (environmental) targets developers, owners, and occupiers of constructed facilities 10 samuel joseph et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 1-16 decision making on energy conservation and efficiency in line with the energy (energy management) regulations 2012 (see table 1) 5. ministry of environment, water and natural resources (2013) national environmental policy – section 5.6 requires the government to: conduct periodic eia for all infrastructural projects; develop and implement an environmentally conscious infrastructure development strategy and action plan; and, conduct social impact assessment, public participation, eia and strategic environmental assessment (sea) in the approval and planning of infrastructural project preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) and ensuring the industry meets its moral and legal obligations to its stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle (social) targets national and county governments 6. nema (2014) national solid waste management strategy – recognizes construction and demolition as one of the main sources of waste in kenya. in a bid to ensure a healthy, safe and secure environment, this strategy seeks to achieve 80%, 50% and 30% waste recovery (in terms of compositing to energy and recycling) and the remaining 20%, 50% and 70% for sanitary landfilling by the years 2030, 2025 and 2020 respectively preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets national and county governments 7. ministry of environment and natural resources (2016a) green economy strategy and implementation 2016-2030 (gesip) – requires promotion of sustainable built environment from design, through construction to operation phases of constructed facilities. some of the specific strategies include: increasing share of renewable energy in the energy mix; and, promoting sustainable design, construction and operation of constructed facilities covers the 3 facets of sc (economic, environmental and social) targets national and county governments 8. ministry of environment and natural resources (2016b) sessional paper no.5 of 2016 on national climate change framework policy – advocates for “… integration of climate change risks and opportunities in the design, operation and management of infrastructure” p. 11 preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets national and county governments 9. green africa foundation (2018) kenya building research centre’s strategic plan 2017/2018 – 2021/2022: has the following key result areas – developing policies, regulations and guidelines on green buildings; conducting research on and gazetting sc materials; and, oversee mainstreaming of green building principles in the construction industry preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets national government 10. ministry of environment and forestry (2018) kenya national climate change action plan (nccap) 2018-2022 – this plan recommends, but is not limited to: promotion of green buildings; sustainable privately owned land timber production; and, enhanced energy conservation and efficiency preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) targets national and county governments 11 11. the (draft) national building code 2022 – scheduled to be in operation from 2023 aims at enhancing order, health and safety in and around construction works (including resulting constructed facilities) and provides: guidelines related to all construction project phases (including requirement for conformance to sustainable design strategies); materials and other components standards; and, disaster management standards amongst other provisions preventing damage and potential irreversible impacts on the natural environment (environmental) and ensuring the industry meets its moral and legal obligations to its stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle (social) targets county governments, professional consultants, building owners and occupiers, contractors and suppliers source: authors (2022) 12 samuel joseph et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 1-16 4.2 sct policy regime priorities (including inherent shortcomings) based on figure 1 above, it is clear that the regime largely focuses on the environmental facet of sct with comparatively less focus on the social and economic pillars (in decreasing order of focus). this ranking is in line with the ideal nesting of the three sct facets as postulated by joseph (2019:22) and esezobor (2016:28). that notwithstanding, with each facet having a specific sct objective (woodall et al., 2004; adetunji et al., 2003), no facet appears to be less important comparatively. consequently, the regime can be enhanced along the economic and social facets to ensure enhanced and comprehensive sct. additionally, the specific provisions of the policy regime are largely geared towards strategic and tactical implementation levels with a lesser focus on the operational level, that is, at the construction project level and in the short term (see tables 1-3). consequently, the system can also be optimised through enhanced focus on the operational level of implementation. this aligns with three sct implementation levels as recommended by cruz et al. (2019) and would complement the current sct implementation efforts through the policy regime at the industry and firm levels in the long and medium term, respectively. 4.3 sct policy regime instruments (including inherent shortcomings) figure 1 also shows that the kenyan sct policy regime drives the sct agenda through subsidiary legislation/regulations; constitution and acts of parliament; and codes, guidelines and plans. based on their respective numbers, they emerge to be employed approximately equally. this is generally in line with a developed nation such as china (see chang, 2016:104106). it must however be noted that given the multiplicity of policy documents, a database with all sct-related policy documentation has the potential to inform comprehensive sct practice, policy and research. additionally, a closer look at the specific sct provisions of the various policy instruments indicates that the regime largely backs sct through regulation and control (see tables 1-3). this leaves out other ways to back sct, such as through: economic incentives – subsidies, awards and financial innovations; supporting activities – demonstration projects, publicity, standards and evaluation; liability/damage compensation – supporting mandated pollution insurance, extended producer responsibility, clear liability rules, and, compensation funds; education and information – on awareness drives, information dissemination, eco-labelling, and, publicising non-compliance penalties; voluntary programmes; and, management and planning (oecd, 2001b:132,135-136; lafferty, 2004:6; chang, 2016:106-115). this highlights part of the gap that the policy regime should seek to fill to realise its full influence potential towards sct. 4.4 sct policy regime stakeholder orientation (including inherent shortcomings) lastly, figure 1 indicates that the regime largely focuses on the role of developers/owners/occupiers and government (national and county) (in decreasing order of focus). additionally, it focuses comparatively less on contractors, suppliers/producers/manufacturers, and professional consultants (also in decreasing order of focus). though targeting the same group of stakeholders as the chinese sct policy regime (see chang, 2016:106109), more needs to be done, policy-wise, to back the implementation of sct targeting professional consultants, contractors and suppliers/producers/manufacturers. this can be ensured through new policies and revision of current ones and can ultimately synchronise the entire construction industry supply chain for enhanced sct performance. additionally, it should be noted that there was no explicit mention of the role of ngos, csos and media in sct (see tables 1-3). given their well-documented potential to drive the sct agenda, as postulated by gilham (2010:126,140) and graham et al. (2003:4), there is the implied need to leverage them for sct through policy. specifically, ngos and csos' potential is in the watchdog role, crafting and disseminating new practices and technologies and independent monitoring and evaluation. on the other hand, media can support sct: inter-sectorial information relaying, opinion-shaping; and promoting accountability. 5. conclusion this study sought to analyse the kenyan sct policy regime regarding priorities, instruments and stakeholder orientation, including (any) inherent shortcomings. identifying the inherent shortcomings was ultimately aimed at making appropriate recommendations for improved sct policy regimes to enhance and optimise industry sct performance. the findings indicate that the regime: priorities – primarily focus on environmental sustainability targeting strategic and tactical implementation levels with minimal focus on sct socioeconomic objectives and operational level of implementation, which reduces its comprehensiveness; instruments – driven by regulations, the constitution, and acts of parliament, as well as codes, guidelines, and plans, from multiple sources, primarily aimed at regulation and control and not the other policy instruments functions hence not delivering on their full potential; and, stakeholder orientation – primarily targeting developers/owners/occupiers and government with less focus on the other stakeholders and thus not leveraging their specific roles in sct supply chain. the resulting recommendations were: priorities – need for improved focus on sct's socio-economic objectives and operational level of implementation; instruments – need for a central database and leveraging them to support economic incentives, supporting activities, liability 13 compensation, education and information, voluntary programs, and management and planning; and, stakeholder orientation – improved targeting of contractors, suppliers/producers/manufacturers, professional consultants, non-governmental and civil society organisations, and media. irrespective of the notable and commendable progress, the previous discussion highlights room for an improved sct policy regime as an avenue for optimised and enhanced sct performance in kenya. lastly, given that this study was limited to current sct policy regime evaluation, future research on the subject focus on other parts of the policy-making process system, such as problem identification; agenda setting; policy development; and implementation. references adetunji, i., price, a., fleming, p., & kemp, p. 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(2005). qualitative analysis of content. human brain mapping, 30(7), 2197-2206. doi:10.1002/hbm.20661 jcbm (2018) 2(1). 20-32 assessment of the likelihood of risk occurrence on tendering and procurement of construction projects o. s. dosumu 1 department of building, university of lagos, nigeria1 received 2 june 2017; received in revised form 27 june 2017, 12 august 2017; accepted 20 august 2017 abstract the construction industry is plagued by risks above other industries due to its unique features which include the complexity of building activities, extended period of construction, complicated processes, financial intensity and dynamic organisational structure. these risks are not adequately dealt with and result in increased cost, time and reduced quality. while many types of research have been conducted on construction risks, only a few types of research have investigated the impact of risk (at tendering and procurement stage) on construction projects before they commence. meanwhile, risk issues are better solved at bidding and procurement phase than construction phase as the case has been. therefore, this paper examines the likelihood, degree of impact and probability of risk occurrence on tendering and procurement of construction projects. it also investigates the significant sources of tendering and procurement risks, the level of awareness and adoption of risk management techniques in construction tendering and procurement. the questionnaire for the study was administered on building contractors and consultants. a total of 44 questionnaires were retrieved and used for the analysis of the study. the statistical tools used for analysis are frequencies, percentages, mean scores and t test. the findings of the study revealed 17 significant sources of risk among the 35 that were investigated. risks with high likelihood of occurrence, the degree of impact and high probability of occurrence were also indicated in the study. based on the findings, it was concluded that respondents are aware and adopt risk management techniques on construction projects, but their adoption is at response level rather than identification level. therefore, the recommendation of the study is that awareness should be created on the need for risk identification before construction projects commence. this should be implemented at professional and organizational level. construction stakeholders should guard against risks with a high degree of impact and probability of occurrence during tendering and procurement of construction projects. therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by investigating the significant sources of risks to tendering and procurement, likelihood of risk occurrence, impact of risks and probability of risk occurrence in tendering and procurement. keywords: construction projects, cost overrun, impact of risk, probability of risk, procurement, sources of risk, tendering and procurement. 1. introduction the construction industry, like many other industries, is subject to risks (smith 2003). the industry is one of the most dynamic, challenging and rewarding fields because it is exposed to both predictable and unpredictable risk (mills, 2001). as a result of the inherent risks in construction process, tipili, and ilyasi (2014) concluded that risks cannot be avoided, so it must be recognised, assessed and managed. buertney, abeere-inga and kumi 1 corresponding author. tel: +2348038825534 email address: oluwaseundosumu97@gmail.com (2013) noted that risks and construction are not mutually exclusive. a risk is an event that can have an adverse impact on project outcome or opportunities that are beneficial to project performance (faa system, 2000; oyewobi, ibrahim and ganiyu, 2012; rezakhani 2012). the risk in the construction industry is more than that of other industries because of its unique features which include complexity of construction activities, extended period of construction, complicated process, financial intensity and dynamic organizational structure. these university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:oluwaseundosumu97@gmail.com o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 21 risks are not adequately dealt with thereby resulting in overall increased cost, time and reduced quality (sun, man & wang, 2015). risk management involves identifying, controlling and assessing managerial resources with coordinated and economic efforts to minimise the probability and impact of unfortunate events to maximise the realisation of poor project objectives (ahmed, azhar & ahmad 2001; zou, zhang and wang, 2007; mahendra, pitroda & bhavsar, 2013). risk is a pre-emptive concept rather than reactive and as such if not properly handled, it can lead to risk effects such as cost overrun, time overrun and poor-quality projects (iqbal, choudhry, holschemacher, ali and tamosatiene, 2015). there are many kinds of risks namely; safety risks, social risks, business risks, investment risks, military risks and political (naphade & bhangale 2013). these risks are commonly faced by contractors in the form of changes in works, delayed payment on contract, financial failure of owner, labour dispute, equipment and material availability, labour productivity, defective materials, equipment productivity, safety, poor quality of work, unforeseen site conditions, changes in government regulation, delays in resolving litigation/arbitration disputes, inflation, cost of legal process and force majeure (oyewobi, et al. 2012). the risks faced by the clients are; awarding the design to unqualified designer, defective design and occurrence of accidents because of poor safety procedures (enhassi & mosa, 2008). the concentration of research on construction risks has had efforts mostly channelled towards effects of risks on construction cost, time and quality (tam, et al. 2004), risk management at design phase (chapman, 2001) and construction phase (abdou, 1996). other researchers investigated risk from life cycle perspective (zou, et al., 2007), construction projects (radujkovic & car-pusic, 2011; calzadilla, awinda & parkin 2012), public private partnership and contingency (buertney, et al., 2013), organizational performance (agwu, 2012), joint venture projects (adnan, 2008) and insurance in construction industry (naphade & bhangale, 2013). however, there is limited research on the impact of risks faced by contractors during tendering and procurement of construction projects. this may be due to underestimation of its importance by both practitioners and the academia. this study argues that risk issues are better solved at tendering and procurement level rather than at construction phase as the case has been. the importance of tender figures and procurement options for construction projects cannot be overemphasised. hence, the tendering and procurement phase is a critical stage in the design and construction of projects because it drives the eventual cost, time and quality of construction projects. therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by investigating the significant sources of risks to tendering and procurement, likelihood of risk occurrence, impact of risks and probability of risk occurrence in tendering and procurement. the study also determined the level of awareness and adoption of risk management techniques in construction tendering and procurement. 2. literature review 2.1 sources of risks ultimately, all risks encountered on a project are related to one or more of the following failures to stay within budgeted cost/forecast/estimate/tender, stipulated time, design, construction and occupancy and meet the required technical standards for quality, functions, fitness for purpose, safety and environment preservation (flanagan & norman 1993). for risks to be effectively eliminated, the sources must be identified and appropriately mitigated. according to slattery and bodapati (2001), the sources of risks are schedules, cost, quality, technical, unknown conditions, international, environmental and safety. it was noted in zou, et al. (2007) that cost related risks include tight project schedule, design variations, changes by the client, unsuitable construction program planning, occurrence of dispute, price inflation of construction materials, excessive approval procedures in administrative government departments, incomplete approval, incomplete or inaccurate cost estimate and inadequate program scheduling. albogamy and dawood (2015) noted that the sources of risks are majorly lack of project management skills and competencies. the sources of risks identified by sayegh and mansour (2015) are inefficient planning, quality compromise and integrity of design. table 1 shows the updated sources of risks on construction projects based on the compilation of radujkovic and car-pusic (2011:2). table 1: classification of risk sources external sources internal sources legislative 1. local regulations 2. permits and agreements 3. law changes 4. standards contract 1. unrealistic deadline 2. unrealistic price 3. other contract provisions 4. quality compromise political 1. policy changes 2. elections 3. war 4. existing agreements resources 1. shortage of workers 2. shortage of machinery 3. machinery breakdowns 4. late delivery of materials economical 1. economic regulations 2. price rises 3. exchange rates 4. financing conditions technical document 1. delay 2. incompleteness 3. imprecision 4. new solutions as consequence of 2&3 22 o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 5. economic policy changes 5. integrity of design social 1. education, culture 2. seasonal work 3. strike 4. human fluctuation human factor 1. productivity 2. sick leaves 3. motivation 4. errors and omissions natural 1. climate 2. soil 3. subterranean waters 4. natural disasters resources 1. shortage of workers 2. shortage of machinery 3. machinery breakdowns 4. late delivery of materials technology 1. poorly chosen tech. solutions 2. obsolete technology these sources were classified into two (external and internal). the internal sources were grouped into six, and the external were grouped into five. twenty-one of the sources are external, and 19 are internal. calzadilla, awinda and parkin (2012) also classified the sources or risks into external and internal. external sources consist of natural/regional sources and the construction industry while internal sources consist of project and company. under the national, regional sources, there is political situation (national worker's strike, nationalisation of basic industries and labour union), economic/financial (currency exchange control) and social environment (unskilled labour). construction industry consists of market fluctuation (suppliers bargaining power and shortage of materials and materials and equipment) and laws and regulations (restriction of import or export materials and equipment). from figure 1, it is evident that if risks are not controlled from sources, they will lead to effects such as time delays and cost overrun. figure 1: sources of risks and their effects adapted from calzadilla, awinda and parkin (2012: 1215) 2.2 types of risks in construction four types of risks were highlighted by mahendra et al. (2013) and they are: (1) technical risksincomplete design, inadequate specification, insufficient site investigation, change in scope, construction procedures and inadequate resource availability, (2) construction riskslabour productivity, labour disputes, site condition, equipment failures, design changes, to high quality standard and slow technology, (3) physical risksdamage to structure, damage to equipment, labour injuries, material, fire and theft and (4) organizational risks contractual relations, contractor’s experience, attitudes of participants, inexperienced work force and poor communication. all these types of risks can be experienced on any construction project; therefore, they must be mitigated from their sources to prevent cost and time overrun. sources of risks external national/regional political situation national workers strike nationalization of basic industries labour union economic/financial currency exchange control social environment unskilled labour construction industry market fluctuation supplier bargaining power shortage of material and equipment laws and regulations restriction of import or export materials and equipment internal project owner decision changes slow decision making design unclear scope poor quality contractor poor quality availability of resources company organizational structure risk management leadership planning project process unskilled staff o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 23 the types of risks identified by taghipour, seraj, fatemah, hassani and kheirabadi (2015) are delays in payment of contractors’ claim and low commitment to quality of work by contractor. these types of delays are mutually inclusive because when client delays contractor’s payment, the net effect is that contractor’s commitment to the work or its quality will reduce. the way to arrest the risks is to identify and control them even before project commences. ahmed, et al. (2001) noted that the types of risk are acts of god (flood, earth quake, land slide, fire, wind damage and lighting), physical (damage to structure, equipment, labour injuries, materials and equipment fire and theft), financial (exchange rate fluctuation, financial default of subcontractor and non-convertibility), political and environmental (changes in laws and regulations, war and civil disorder, requirement for permits and their approval, pollution and safety rules, expropriation and embargoes), design (incomplete design scope, defective designers and omissions, inadequate specifications and different site conditions) and construction related (weather delays, labour dispute and strike, labour productivity, differing site conditions, defective work, design changes and equipment failure. shrestha (2011) categorised risks into political risks which include political decision making, the right of way’s risk, competing facilities’ risk, regulatory risk, protectionism and legislation change. other categories are economic risks (pre-investment risk, toll revenues, financial risks and cost overrun risk), socio-cultural risks (public opinion, environmental risks, moral hazard, partnering risks and environmental justice), technical risks (project management risks, construction risks, design and latent defect risk, technology risks, force majeure physical risks). oyewobi et al. (2012) noted the classification of risks to be design risks (defective design, variation of work, changes in original design and deficiencies in description of work), financial risk (inflation, inadequate cash flow, exchange rates, cost overrun due to schedule delay and contractors default), construction risk (contractors competence, defective material, poor performance of supplier, poor quality of work, productivity of equipment, labour, material and equipment availability and unforeseen site condition) and political risks (political uncertainty, bank policies, changes in government regulations, permits and ordinances and force majeure). table 2 summarises the types and classification of risks as reviewed in this study. table 2: classification and types of risks author classification of risks types of risks mahendra et al. 2015 banaitiene and banaitis, 2012 technical, construction, physical and organization, local, global and technological change incomplete design, inadequate specification, inadequate site investigation, change in scope, construction procedures and insufficient resource availability; labour productivity, labour disputes, site condition, equipment failures, design changes, to high quality standard and slow technology; damage to structure, damage to equipment, labour injuries, material, fire and theft; contractual relations, contractor’s experience, attitudes of participants, inexperienced work force and poor communication taghipour, et al., 2015; iqbal et al. 2015; banaitiene and banaitis, 2012; oyewobi et al. 2012 design, financial, construction and political defective design, variation of work, changes in original design and deficiencies in description of work; inflation, inadequate cash flow, exchange rates, cost overrun due to schedule delay and contractors default, accidents, defective designs; contractors competence, defective material, poor performance of supplier, poor quality of work, productivity of equipment, labour, material and equipment availability and unforeseen site condition and; political uncertainty, bank policies, changes in government regulations, permits and ordinances and force majeure, delays in payment of contractors’ claim and low commitment to quality of work by contractor banaitiene and banaitis, 2012 shrestha, 2011 political, economic, sociocultural and technical political decision making, right of way’s risk, competing facilities’ risk, regulatory risk, protectionism and legislation change; pre-investment risk, toll revenues, financial risks and cost overrun risk; public opinion, environmental risks, moral hazard, partnering risks and environmental justice; project management risks, construction risks, design and latent defect risk, technology risks, force majeure physical risks. ehsan et al. 2010 technical, logistics, management related, environmental, financial and socio-political inadequate site investigation, incomplete design, appropriateness of specifications and uncertainty over the source and availability of materials; availability of sufficient transportation facilities and availability of resources; uncertain productivity of resources and industrial relations problems; weather and seasonal implications and natural disasters; availability and fluctuation in foreign 24 o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 exchange, delays in payment, inflation, local taxes and repatriation of funds; constraints on the availability and employment of expatriate staff, customs and import restrictions and procedures, difficulties in disposing of plant and equipment and insistence on use of local firms and agent pmbok, 2008 technical, external, organizational, environmental and project management. ritchie, 2007 delay in award of tender, access to site, site conditions, design responsibility, ambiguities in documentation, extension of time, interface risks, fit–out works, subcontracting, scope of works, fit for purpose and cultural heritage. ahmed et al. 2001 acts of god, physical, financial, political and environment, design and construction related flood, earth quake, land slide, fire, wind damage and lighting; damage to structure, equipment, labour injuries, materials and equipment fire and theft; exchange rate fluctuation, financial default of subcontractor and non-convertibility; changes in laws and regulations, war and civil disorder, requirement for permits and their approval, pollution and safety rules, expropriation and embargoes; incomplete design scope, defective designers and omissions, inadequate specifications and different site conditions; weather delays, labour dispute and strike, labour productivity, differing site conditions, defective work, design changes and equipment failure. from two case study projects, ritchie (2007) found that the types of risks include, delay in award of tender, access to site, site conditions, design responsibility, ambiguities in documentation, extension of time, interface risks, fit– out works, subcontracting, scope of works, fit for purpose and cultural heritage. banaitiene and banaitis (2012) grouped risks into local, global, economic, physical, political and technological change. pmbok (2008) categorised it into technical, external, organisation, environmental or project management. financial issues for projects, accidents and defective designs are the important types of risks on construction projects according to iqbal et al. (2015). ehsan et al. (2010) pointed out that the categories of risks are technical (inadequate site investigation, incomplete design, appropriateness of specifications and uncertainty over the source and availability of materials), logistic risks (availability of sufficient transportation facilities and availability of resources), management related risks (uncertain productivity of resources and industrial relations problems), environmental risks (weather and seasonal implications and natural disasters) and financial risk (availability and fluctuation in foreign exchange, delays in payment, inflation, local taxes and repatriation of funds), socio-political (constraints on the availability and employment of expatriate staff, customs and import restrictions and procedures, difficulties in disposing of plant and equipment and insistence on use of local firms and agent). from the types and classes of risks reviewed, it evident that only nomenclature changes, the risk types are the same. 2.3 risk management techniques in the construction industry chen, zhang, liu and hu (2015) discovered that risk perceptions have adverse effects on bids and the probability or magnitude of potential gain or loss have significant impacts on risk perceptions. al-shilby, et al. (2013) classified risk assessment methods in quantitative and qualitative methods, the qualitative method involves right judgment, ranking options, comparing option and descriptive analysis. the quantitative technique includes probability, sensitivity, scenario and simulation analysis. qualitative assessment involves identifying: (1) risks hierarchy which is based on probability of risk occurrence and its impact on the project and employees (2) risks scope and (3) risk occurrence factors. quantitative risk analysis involves evaluation of the impact of all identified and quantified risk. the results of quantitative methods are more objective than those from qualitative risk analysis. risk management is divided into risk identification, risk assessment, risk response and risk treatment. risk identification involves identifying and applying procedures for identifying opportunities, losses of risks, how and why risks arise, analysing the processes of identifying risks, scenario analysis to identify risks, physical inspection to identify risk, risk source, use of questionnaire, interview, brainstorming, swot and examination of local/oversees experience to determine the risk. risk assessment involves analyses/evaluation of opportunities, swot, risk collation, analysis of risk according to likelihood, consequence, quantitative analysis methods, reputation impact, achievement of objectives, financial impact and qualitative analysis method. risk response involves identification of risk management plan, considering limits to achieve risk management objectives, evaluate cost and benefits of identifying risks, finding out the effectiveness of available controls and risk management responses, prioritising risks that cause great losses and identifying up to rate business continuity plan. risk treatment involves understanding the risk faced by organizations, regarding communication aboard risk, supporting effective management of risk o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 25 between staff and management, providing appropriate level of control regarding risks, risk transfer, risk reduction, monitoring the effectiveness of risk management, avoiding risk and accepting/retaining risk. risk management according to mahendra, et al. (2013) is in four stages – risk identification, risk assessment, risk response planning and risk control. risk identification involves brainstorming, delphi technique, interview/export is categorised into quantitative and quantitative techniques. the quantitative technique involves risk priority numbers, and quantitative technique involves sensitivity analysis, scenario analysis, probabilistic (monte carlo simulation) analysis, decision trees, risk, response involves risk avoidance, risk transfer, risk mitigation/reduction, risk exploit, risk sharing, risk enhancement, risk acceptance and contingency plan. naphade and bhangale (2013) noted that the methods of identifying risks are brainstorming, interviews, questionnaire, services specialists and past experience. risk can be managed by using existing assets, contingency planning and investing in new resources. risk management strategies are risk prevention (including risk avoidance), impact mitigation, risk sharing, insurance and risk retention. ritchie (2007) claimed that risk elimination, reduction, transfer and retention are ways of mitigating risk. the risk identification techniques put forward by kansal and sharma (2012) are brainstorming, delphi technique, interview/expert judgment, checklist, influence diagram, flow chart and cause-and –effect diagram. risk management techniques according to ehsan, et al. (2010) are risk identification, risk quantification, risk response development and risk response control. risk response is classified into acceptance, quantification, monitoring the risks, preparing contingency plans, transferring and mitigating risk. 2.4 impact of risks on tendering and procurement of construction projects it is important to note that risk inherence is not peculiar to the construction industry alone; however, it is more prominent and grave in the construction industry because of its unique features like complexity of projects, time is taken for construction to complete and the number of stakeholders with different interests involved in a project. researches have been conducted on risk and risk management concerning cost, time and quality (tam, et al. 2004) among others. however, the studies appear to be reactive in their approach rather than preventive. therefore, it would be more beneficial to consider risk and its management at the tendering and procurement stage. the work of abdul-razak (2013) indicates that the traditional and integrated/management systems are the two methods of construction projects procurement in ghana and the traditional system is dominant and popularly used for public projects. hence, it was discovered that delay in retention release, financial and design risk factors have the highest impact on works procured through national competitive tendering (nct). oyewobi, et al., 2012 found that defects in design, inflation, contractor’s competence, political uncertainty and changes in government had greatest impact on contractors’ tender figure whereas likely trend in wages rates, excessive approval procedure in administration of government departments, unavailability of sufficient amount of unskilled labor and technical manpower and resources of the company were the most significant factors to be considered by contractors when estimating pricing risks. mantzaris (2014) stated in his work that procurement practices led to corruption in south africa's national and provincial departments. hence, concerning the various forms of corruption in the public sector, the roles that systems, risk management imperatives and procurement management play in combating corruption could act as shields against fraud, collusion, extortion and similar corrupt activities. it was also noted that the most crucial element in fighting corruption is political will. it is worthy of affirmation that there are various fraud and corrupt practices in tendering and procurement of construction projects and this constitutes significant risks to those projects. cipla counter fraud centre (2015) highlighted key tendering and procurement risks as price fixing, market sharing, bid rigging, manipulation of specifications, manipulation of procurement procedures, bribery for awarding contracts, corruption for disclosing confidential information, conflict of interest and cyberfraud among others. agerberg (2012) found that the present risk management process is acceptable but can be improved by a better structure. it was also noted that risk management processes would be enhanced if threats were separated from opportunities both in the identification and analysis phase. cipla counter fraud centre (2015) pointed out that standard risk management processes and procurement fraud risks should be identified and assessed and appropriate strategies for their management (estimating the probability, impact and proximity of each risk) should be implemented and kept under review. hence, this study investigates the likelihood, degree of impact and the probability of risk occurrence on construction projects at tendering and procurement phase. this will enable clients, consultants and contractors to know the risks to avoid and how to avoid them. 3. methodology the survey research design (quantitative and qualitative methods) was used to collect information for this study. the population of the study is the construction organizations that are involved in project tendering and procurement in lagos, nigeria. lagos was used because it is the economic hub of nigeria; therefore, many construction works are being executed there. also, many construction organizations have their head offices or at least a branch office situated in lagos state, thus making access to projects and respondents easy. the consultants’ views were obtained because they are usually involved in the selection process of contractors during the tendering and procurement stage. the construction organizations’ list was obtained from the federation of construction industry (foci) (57) and construction professional bodies (61). hence, 118 organizations were obtained and used as the population for this study. to further understand the positions of respondents on the questions raised for the study, informal interviews were conducted with some of them. however, the reports of the interview were not 26 o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 presented in the study as they were only meant to lend further credence to the questionnaires’ responses. the reliability of the variables used in the study was tested with the statistical package for social scientists (spss 24), and the results of reliability statistics shows that the cronbach’s alpha for sources of risk is 0.839; likelihood of occurrence of risk is 0.984; degree of impact of risk is 0.896; awareness of risk mitigation measures is 0.941 and adoption of risk mitigation measures is 0.623 respectively. cronbach’s alpha values of 0.7 and above indicate higher reliability of instruments and are therefore generally accepted for reliable instruments (polit & hungler, 1985). using the formula proposed by the creative research system (2001), sample size was calculated to be 90 (see formula below). hence, a total of 90 questionnaires were sent out to capture relevant information on the study and 44 were retrieved giving a response rate of 49%. this response rate is acceptable and not uncommonly low as noted in dosumu and onukwube (2013). the sampling was based on convenience as organizations on the lists that are equally willing to provide information were considered for the study. the data for the study were analysed with frequencies, percentages and mean scores. the formula proposed by the creative research system (2001) is stated thus: 𝑆𝑆 = 𝑍2×𝑃×(1−𝑃) 𝐶2 (1) where: ss = sample size, z = z-value at 95% confidence level (1.96), p = probability of selecting a population member (0.5), c = margin of error at 95% confidence level (0.05) also in calculating total risks and probability of occurrence of risks on construction tendering and procurement, the formulae proposed by national institute of standards and technology (2012) as described below were used: 1. total risk = likelihood of occurrence (l) x degree of impact (i) 2. probability of occurrence (p) = (total risk/ cumulative total risk) 4. data analysis table 3 presents the information on respondents, projects and organizations used for the study. information covered includes profession of those surveyed, type of service rendered, sector of project involvement, work experience, educational qualification, professional affiliation, type of projects handled and procurement methods used for projects. it can also be deduced from table 3 that builders and quantity surveyors dominate the study and contractors who work in both public, and private projects are well represented in the study. respondents with 1-15 years' work experience, b.sc, m.sc and appropriate professional qualification are the information providers for the study. thus, the respondents of the study are well qualified. the types of buildings handled by respondents' organisation are 36.4% residential, 9.1% institutional, 9.1% religious and 45.5% commercial. the traditional procurement method was used on 9.1% of projects, design and build method was used on 45.5% of projects and project/construction management method was used on 45.5% of projects. table 3: background information on respondents, projects and organizations profession of respondents frequency % architecture 4 9.1 civil/structural engineering 8 18.2 quantity surveying 16 36.4 building 12 27.3 others, specify 4 9.1 type of service rendered consultancy 16 36.4 contracting 28 63.6 sector of project involvement public 20 45.5 private 24 54.5 work experience 1-5 16 36.4 6-10 16 36.4 11-15 8 18.2 16-20 4 9.1 educational qualification hnd/b.sc. 20 45.5 m.sc. 24 54.5 professional affiliation nigerian institute of architects (nia) 4 9.1 nigerian society of engineers (nse) 8 18.2 nigerian institute of quantity surveyors (niqs) 20 45.5 nigerian institute of building (niob) 12 27.3 type of projects handled residential 16 36.4 institutional 4 9.1 religious 4 9.1 commercial 20 45.5 procurement method traditional 4 9.1 design and build 20 45.5 project/construction management 20 45.5 table 4 indicates that the highly rated sources of risks in construction tendering and procurement according to mean values are poorly chosen technical solution (3.73), bad management (3.64), errors and omission (3.55), unrealistic price (3.55) and economic o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 27 table 4: sources of risks in construction tendering and procurement regulations and price inflation (3.45). however, when the one sample t test was applied to determine the significance of the sources of risks statistically, it was discovered that 17 out of the 35 sources investigated are statistically significant (p < 0.05). it is important to state that, some of the statistically significant sources of risks have low mean values, but the statistical inference makes sense in practical terms. for example, electioneering process, uncertain relationships among project participants and natural disasters have low mean scores, but it is practically reasonable that risks are constituted when any of them exist. therefore, if risks are to be averted, the 17 discovered significant sources of risks should be prevented regardless of what the mean scores read in the study. table 5 depicts the likelihood of risk occurrence, degree of impact of risks, total risks and probability of occurrence of risk on construction tendering and procurement. table 5: total risk and probability of occurrence of risk in construction tendering and procurement risks likelihood of occurrence degree of impact total risk probability of occurrence flood, earthquake, landslide, fire, wind 1.09 2.55 2.78 0.0075 inclement weather 2.36 2.45 5.78 0.0156 design failure/defective design 2.09 2.45 5.12 0.0138 human resource management challenge 2.00 2.70 5.40 0.0146 equipment failure 2.60 3.18 8.27 0.0223 project complexity 2.20 2.82 6.20 0.0167 poor project management 1.60 2.64 4.22 0.0114 wrong construction technology 1.82 2.45 4.46 0.0120 inadequate site investigation 2.00 2.00 4.00 0.0108 sources of risks mean std. deviation rank pvalue remark unrealistic deadline 3.82 1.126 1 0.000 significant poorly chosen technical solution 3.73 0.973 2 0.000 significant bad management 3.64 1.080 3 0.000 significant errors and omission 3.55 0.999 4 0.001 significant unrealistic price 3.55 1.320 4 0.009 significant unskilled staff 3.50 1.377 6 0.027 significant economic regulations and price inflation 3.45 1.247 7 0.020 significant education and culture 3.36 1.163 8 0.044 significant changes in law and standards 3.36 1.080 8 0.031 significant climate and soil condition 3.36 1.080 8 0.031 significant financing conditions 3.36 1.313 8 0.073 not significant late delivery of materials 3.36 1.163 8 0.044 significant delay in preparation of document 3.36 1.313 8 0.073 not significant sick leaves 3.30 0.911 14 0.044 significant obsolete technology 3.27 1.370 15 0.194 not significant incomplete document 3.18 1.352 16 0.377 not significant unfamiliarity with local conditions 3.09 1.254 17 0.633 not significant human fluctuation 3.09 0.910 17 0.511 not significant local regulations, permits and agreements 3.09 1.178 17 0.611 not significant inadequate contractor experience 3.00 1.141 20 1.000 not significant risk management planning process 3.00 1.294 20 1.000 not significant low productivity 3.00 1.141 20 1.000 not significant shortage of materials 2.91 1.326 23 0.652 not significant shortage and breakdown of machinery 2.91 1.326 23 0.652 not significant imprecise specification 2.91 1.460 23 0.682 not significant season-related work 2.91 1.254 23 0.633 not significant poor motivation 2.82 0.724 27 0.103 not significant shortage of workers 2.73 0.973 28 0.070 not significant suppliers bargaining power 2.73 1.227 28 0.148 not significant electioneering process of politicians 2.73 0.872 28 0.044 significant exchange rates 2.64 1.511 31 0.118 not significant uncertain relationship between project participants 2.45 1.389 32 0.013 significant war and unrest 2.45 1.577 32 0.027 significant force majeure 2.18 0.843 34 0.000 significant natural disaster 1.91 1.522 35 0.000 significant 28 o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 inappropriate specifications 2.67 1.73 4.62 0.0125 labour and material supply challenges 1.91 2.73 5.21 0.0141 unavailability of equipment and productivity challenge 2.00 2.73 5.46 0.0147 bad market condition 2.45 3.18 7.79 0.0210 financial default by client 2.73 3.09 8.44 0.0228 interest rate challenge 2.09 3.36 7.02 0.0190 delayed payment 2.18 2.18 4.75 0.0128 global economic pressure 2.64 2.27 5.99 0.0162 incomplete design 2.27 2.82 6.40 0.0173 differing site conditions 2.36 2.73 6.44 0.0174 change in scope 2.18 3.00 6.54 0.0177 estimation error/methods 2.27 2.60 5.90 0.0157 low credibility of shareholders and lenders 2.36 2.27 5.36 0.0145 change in bank formalities and lenders 1.55 2.45 3.80 0.0103 insurance risk 3.00 3.18 9.54 0.0258 inadequate cash flow 3.00 3.09 9.27 0.0250 contractors default 2.73 3.18 8.68 0.0234 local taxes 2.27 2.55 5.79 0.0156 increased material cost 2.82 2.00 5.64 0.0152 low market demand 1.82 1.91 3.48 0.0094 legislative/statutory influence 1.73 3.00 5.19 0.0140 customary rights and litigation 2.45 1.82 4.50 0.0122 public opinion 1.45 1.64 2.38 0.0064 availability and employment of expatriate staff 1.91 2.00 3.82 0.0103 difficulty in disposing of bad plant and equipment 1.27 3.30 4.19 0.0113 bribery and corruption 3.20 2.40 7.68 0.0207 language and cultural barrier 2.09 2.18 4.56 0.0123 bureaucracy 1.82 1.80 3.28 0.0089 force majeure 1.20 2.09 2.51 0.0068 defects in supervision 2.36 2.82 6.66 0.0180 safety of workers and materials 3.36 3.45 11.59 0.0313 poor quality of work 2.91 2.64 7.68 0.0207 location of project 2.73 2.36 6.44 0.0174 unforeseen site conditions 2.73 3.27 8.93 0.0241 defective work 2.27 3.00 6.81 0.0184 breach of contract by project partner 1.73 2.82 4.88 0.0132 lack of enforcement of legal judgment 1.36 2.09 2.84 0.0077 improper verification of contract document 1.73 2.18 3.77 0.0102 uncertainty and unfairness of court judgment 1.45 1.55 2.25 0.0061 internal management problem 1.55 1.73 2.68 0.0072 no past experience on similar project 1.18 1.27 1.50 0.0041 short tender time 1.82 2.20 4.00 0.0108 improper project feasibility study 1.64 2.27 3.72 0.0100 poor relation and dispute with partner 2.09 2.09 4.37 0.0118 poor team work 1.73 2.60 4.50 0.0122 industrial relation problem 2.00 2.55 5.10 0.0138 land acquisition 1.73 2.73 4.72 0.0127 damage to structure and equipment 2.20 2.30 5.06 0.0137 labour injuries 1.64 2.27 3.72 0.0100 defective design 1.64 2.45 4.02 0.0109 errors and omission 2.36 3.00 7.08 0.0191 variation of work 2.18 2.55 5.56 0.0150 changes to original design 2.00 2.55 4.72 0.0127 deficiencies in description of work 1.64 2.36 4.59 0.0124 wrong construction procedure 2.27 2.80 4.95 0.0134 logistics 2.09 2.18 4.56 0.0123 bad contractual relations 1.73 2.73 4.72 0.0127 contractors and work force experience 2.09 2.91 6.08 0.0164 poor attitude of participants 2.55 2.64 6.73 0.0182 poor communication 1.82 3.10 5.64 0.0152 it is worthy of note that risks with high likelihood of occurrence and degree of impact are the ones that have high probability of occurrence. hence, those risks need to be watched by contractors and other stakeholders during o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 29 tendering and procurement of construction projects. from the calculations in table 4, the risks with the highest probability of occurrence in tendering and procurement are equipment failure (0.022), market condition (0.021), financial default by client (0.023), insurance risk (0.026), inadequate cash flow (0.025), contractor default (0.023), bribery and corruption (0.021), safety of workers and materials (0.031), quality of work (0.021) and unforeseen site conditions (0.0241). the implication of this result is that knowledge of the risks with the highest probabilities of occurrence will assist construction organizations to guard against them and devise appropriate risk management technique to be adopted for them. table 6 shows the respondents level of awareness and adoption of risk management techniques for construction tendering and procurement. the respondents are mostly aware of past experience (3.40), interview/ expert opinion (3.20), ranking options (3.09) and risk control (3.0) among other techniques. also, it is clear that the level to which respondents adopt risk management techniques in construction tendering and procurement include; risk sharing (3.55), comparison (3.45), risk enhancement (3.27), contingency plan (3.27), risk transfer (3.27), descriptive analysis (3.27), interview/ expert opinion (3.20), ranking option (3.18), flow chart (3.0), risk control (3.0) and risk exploit (3.0). it is important to note that on top of the table are risk response strategies, followed by risk assessment strategies and then risk identification strategies. this indicates that many of the respondents' organisation only do risk intervention and evaluation while risk identification is utterly neglected. when risk identification is made, there may be less need for risk assessment and response because they may have been averted at the point of identification. table 6: level of awareness and adoption of risk management techniques for construction tendering and procurement management techniques mean awareness rank mean adoption category rank risk sharing 2.64 normal 9 3.55 normal risk response 1 comparing options 2.55 normal 15 3.45 normal risk assessment 2 risk enhancement 2.64 normal 9 3.27 normal risk response 3 contingency plan 2.45 normal 19 3.27 normal risk response 3 risk transfer 2.45 normal 19 3.27 normal risk response 3 descriptive analysis 2.73 normal 6 3.27 normal risk assessment 3 interview/expert opinion 3.20 normal 2 3.20 normal risk identification 7 ranking options 3.09 normal 3 3.18 normal risk assessment 8 flow chart 2.64 normal 9 3.00 normal risk identification 9 risk control 2.64 normal 9 3.00 normal risk control 9 risk acceptance 3.00 normal 4 3.00 normal risk response 9 risk exploit 2.73 normal 6 3.00 normal risk response 9 brainstorming 2.64 normal 9 2.91 normal risk identification 14 probabilistic analysis 2.64 normal 9 2.91 normal risk assessment 14 risk mitigation/reduction 2.45 normal 19 2.82 normal risk response 16 scenario analysis 2.45 normal 19 2.73 normal risk assessment 17 decision tree direct judgment 2.64 normal 9 2.55 normal risk assessment 18 risk priority number 2.73 normal 6 2.55 normal risk assessment 18 questionnaire 2.27 low 27 2.55 normal risk identification 18 checklists 2.90 normal 5 2.55 normal risk identification 18 monte-carlo simulations 2.36 low 24 2.55 low risk assessment 18 sensitivity analysis 2.64 low 9 2.36 low risk assessment 23 cause-effect diagram 2.30 low 26 2.33 low risk identification 24 risk avoidance 2.55 normal 15 2.27 low risk response 25 delphi technique 2.45 normal 19 2.18 low risk identification 26 influence diagram 2.36 low 24 1.73 low risk identification 27 5. discussion of findings the study of the impact of risks on tendering and procurement of construction projects is necessary to prevent cost and time overrun before their symptoms begin to unfold. the significant sources of risks on construction projects according to this study are poorly chosen technical solution, bad management, errors and omission, unrealistic price, economic regulations and price inflation among others. 17 statistically significant sources of risks were identified from the 35 that were investigated. in comparison with the previous study, the results of this study are quite different those of flanagan and norman (1993) and slattery and bodapati (2001) among others. the finding of zhou, et al. (2007) is consistent with the result of this study in the area of materials price fluctuation and bad management. these two variables are closely related as only bad project managers would let materials’ price fluctuation catch up with them on any project. in nigeria, many project managers are inexperienced and not fit for the projects they manage. this usually results in unwise decisions and bad project management. the work of dosumu, idoro and onukwube (2017) indicate that errors and omission in contract documents are potential risks for any construction project as they increase cost by about 10% of contract sum. moreso, as a country, nigeria does not have any serious economic policy for construction projects and this is likely one of the reasons for unrealistic pricing of construction projects. 30 o. s. dosumu / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 20-32 the study also found that risks with high likelihood of occurrence and degree of impact eventually have the highest probability of occurrence in tendering and procurement. this indicates that variables with high likelihood and degree of impact should be prevented before they occur. in this study, the risks with high probability of occurrence are equipment failure, market condition, financial default by client, insurance risk, inadequate cash flow, contractor default, bribery and corruption, safety of workers and materials, quality of work and unforeseen site conditions. although many studies did not calculate the probability of risk occurrence; the results of this study is not unexpected as most of the risks identified occur on nigerian projects. many of the equipment used on construction projects are obsolete and poorly maintained, market prices are unstable due to lack of economic policy, clients default financially due to high bank interest rates and delays leading to inadequate cash flow. when cash flow becomes inadequate, contractors would likely default. bribery and corruption in the nigerian construction industry have eaten deep into many of the stakeholders especially the consultants that allow shoddy works to pass to the next stage of construction thereby leading to building collapse, defects, wastages, quality problems, cost and time overrun and sometimes disputes. many projects in nigeria do not have health and safety plan before, during and after construction. this explains the reason for high accidents on nigerian projects as noted in dosumu and onukwube (2014). bribery and corruption are not peculiar to nigeria alone; mantzaris (2014) also pointed out that there is corruption in south africa’s national and provincial departments of procurement. this is disheartening because it is disgusting to know that professionals are going that low to acquire money through extortion. the result of the study also indicates that the respondents have knowledge of the risk management techniques as shown in table 5. the respondents also adopt them at a normal level. the problem is the stage at which the risk management techniques are utilised. according to the categorization of adoption level in table 5, it is evident that the order of adoption of risk management techniques is risk response, risk assessment and risk identification respectively. however, the correct order is supposed to be risk identification, assessment, response and control. the current order indicates that many of the respondents' organisation only do risk response and assessment while risk identification is utterly neglected. there may be less need for risk assessment and response because they would have been averted at the point of identification and this is what should be campaigned to construction organizations. risk identification should be made a routine activity before construction begins. government establishments should ensure that risk identification is made approval criteria for construction projects. 6. conclusions the findings of the research are that the significant sources of risks are poorly chosen technical solutions, bad management, errors and omission, unrealistic price, unskilled staff, economics regulations and price inflation among others. also, safety of workers and materials, interest rate challenge, difficulty in disposing bad plant, unforeseen site condition, equipment failure, contractor default, market condition, insurance risk, communication, financial default by client, inadequate cash flow, errors and omission, legislative influence, changes in scope, defective work, contractors and workforce experience, breach of contract by project partner, defects in supervision, project complexity, incomplete design, construction procedure, land acquisition, contractual relations, equipment availability and productivity challenge, differing site conditions and variation of work have a high degree of impact on construction tendering and procurement. the study also found that respondents are aware and adopt risk management techniques on construction projects; however, their adoption is at response level rather than identification and assessment level. this is dangerous because it may not help construction projects avert cost and time overrun in most cases. risks with the highest probability of occurrence are flood, earthquake, inclement weather, design failure, human resource management challenge, equipment failure, project complexity, project management, construction technology, inadequate site investigation, inappropriate specifications, labour and material supply challenges, market conditions and financial default by client. the respondents are aware of the use of past experience, interview, ranking options, risk control, checklists, risk exploit, risk priority number, descriptive analysis, probabilistic analysis, risk enhancement, decision tree, direct judgment, flow chart, risk sharing, brainstorming, risk avoidance, comparing options sensitivity analysis, risk acceptance, risk mitigation, contingency plan, scenario analysis and risk transfer. the study, therefore, concludes that there are many sources of risks for construction projects at the tendering and procurement stage. these sources have the capacity to increase the probability/likelihood of risk occurrence on construction projects, hence the need to adopt the available management techniques of risk identification to mitigate them. having noted that construction organizations ignore risk identification before project commences, it is recommended that risk management should follow the order of risk identification, assessment, response and control. based on the result of the study that respondents have low awareness on the use of management techniques such as questionnaire, causeeffect and influence diagrams to conduct risk identification of construction projects, the study recommends that appropriate awareness should be created in that regard. questionnaire, cause-effect and influence diagrams are scientific approaches to risk identification (problem solving) in construction projects and as such, may require the engagement of construction consultants (especially academics) who have sufficient scientific knowledge to conduct risk identification of construction projects before they commence. hence, it is recommended that construction consultants should be engaged to conduct scientific identification of project risk before they start; 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(2007). understanding the key risks in construction project in china. international journal of project management, 25, 6 601–614 jcbm (2017) 1(2). 35-45 drivers of rural housing development in edo state, nigeria t. t. oladokun1, m. o. komolafe2 department of estate management, obafemi awolowo university1 department of estate management, university of benin2 received 14 october 2016; received in revised form 4 january 2017, 9 april 2017 and 15 april 2017; accepted 12 may 2017 abstract this study examined the drivers of housing development in ebele community area of benin city, nigeria. it inquired into the housing finance structures and evaluated factors influencing housing development and infrastructural needs in the rural housing sector. the paper sampled 30 residents from each of the five villages in the study area. using frequency counts and mean values, the result revealed a considerable gap on the level of satisfaction of the existing housing system. the challenges faced by the rural dwellers were majorly infrastructural deficits and shortage of capital for housing provision since innovative housing finance strategies were lacking. cultural, ethnic, neighbourhood and infrastructural factors were the most important factors influencing the rural dwellers’ housing choice. the study concluded that the cultural values of the people such as kinship and social relations were leading predictors of housing development in edo state while religion is of secondary importance and therefore recommended their inclusion in any integrated approach to rural housing development. keywords: housing, housing development, housing financing, rural, rural housing. 1. background of study the housing sector is a significant contributor to the economy of advanced countries. in developed nations like the united states of america and canada, this sector is responsible for 10% to 20% of the gross domestic product (deitz, 2015 and ferreras, 2016). investment in housing accounts for 15% to 35% of aggregate investment worldwide and approximately 10% of labour force worldwide is employed by this sector (kolawole, 2015). it is generally accepted that the standard of housing in a nation is an indicator of its extent of economic development standard of living and its height of civilization. the housing sector thus has the potential to generate employment, increase productivity, raise standard of living and alleviate poverty. it also has the capacity to reduce crime rate, insurrections, militancy, and terrorism and substantially address wealth distribution as well as security concerns (thwala, 2005; wardrip et al, 2011). it is able to achieve this because investment in housing affects all facets of life through its multiplier effect on economic development. this includes 1 corresponding author. tel: +234 7030060097 email address: tundeoladokun@yahoo.com 2 email address: markson.komolafe@uniben.edu forward linkages to the financial markets and backward linkages to land, building materials, tools, furniture and labour markets (shuaibu, 2016). despite the potency of boosting national development through housing, the nigerian housing sector has suffered setbacks in various facets and at several stages. according to okonjo-iweala (2014) “the housing and construction sector in nigeria accounts for only about 3 percent of the country’s rebased gdp”. the country has an extremely low ratio of credit to gdp, and of the little credit provided by banks, only a fraction of it is for mortgages. despite the size of the nation’s economy, mortgage debt to gdp is only about 0.5 percent”. there are lots of housing problems in nigeria, both in rural areas and urban centres. according to ibimilua and ibitoye (2015), the problems in rural areas are centred on qualitative housing (these include problems relating to the physical appearance of the buildings, facilities provided, quality of wall used in the building construction, eminence of the roofing materials, condition of other structural components of the house, and the environmental condition of the house) while that in urban university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:tundeoladokun@yahoo.com mailto:markson.komolafe@uniben.edu 36 t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 areas are quantitative (i.e. inadequate supply of housing, leading to further problem such as squatter settlements, overcrowding and pressure on infrastructure) in nature. according to wahab (1993), rural housing is incomplete due to inadequate social services. it was further submitted that the social services required for rural housing include electricity, water supply, as well as transportation facilities. on the other hand, urban housing problems include homelessness slum dwelling, squatting and overcrowding. there is need to particularly focus on the development of housing in the rural areas because a considerable proportion of nigerians live in the rural areas (toyobo et al, 2014). according to okoye (1992) the relationship between the urban and rural areas are symbiotic and if any development strategy must be successful, it must recognize that the phenomenon of rural – urban dichotomy in the national landscape is unacceptable and connotes underdevelopment. moreover, many of the problems of the urban areas can be traced to shortcomings in the rural areas. the mass exodus into the towns is worrisome. the high costs of urban housing and services, the health hazards of shanty towns, the security and political threat posed by the urban unemployed and the adverse economic implications of rural depopulation – these are all challenges which result from the influx into towns and cities (omonigho, 2013). major nigerian cities grow at annual rates of 5-17.5% and suffer from severe pressures on available resources, such as housing, thereby worsening already bad situations in urban employment, management, service delivery and liveability (akpomuvie, 2010). also the wide gap in the development levels between the urban and rural areas in nigeria seems to be threatening the political and social stability of the country. for example, the massive drift into urban areas and the so called “big cities” due to low level of development in rural areas is one the basic factors responsible for the sharp reduction in agricultural activities and consequent overreliance on the oil sector in nigeria. this in turn has resulted in a less stable and less diversified nigerian economy, springing up several political and social consequences like poverty, crime, employment, etc. (iwayemi, 2006) nigerian cities such as lagos, port-harcourt, kano, onitsha among others where most immigrants settle are characterized by human traffic, vehicular congestions, environmental pollution, consistent in-migration and spurious expansion of territories to accommodate human additions (aworemi et al. 2011).. despite having a considerable proportion of the national population, the rural areas are characterized by pervasive and endemic poverty, manifested by widespread hunger, malnutrition, poor health, inadequate access to formal education, deplorable housing state and various forms of social and political menace. most of these challenges are not as severe in urban areas when compared to the rural areas. (akpomuvie, 2010). one way of plummeting these is the improvement in rural housing and rural housing conditions in general. it is being recognized that the problems of our urban centres cannot be solved unless those of the rural areas are solved, or at least contained. a relevant way to tackle the unequal level of development between the two areas is addressing the housing problems in the rural areas. this will enable other developmental activities to spring up. in addition, gyuse (2009) stated that rural housing serves as an abode or place of habitation as it accommodates most rural smallscale industries like pottery, dyeing, among others. it stimulates employment in the rural areas (popoola, 1988). its ability to serve as a place for storage, keeping domesticated animals and foster cohesive sense of belonging among rural dwellers by african countries such as found in the rural areas of edo state, is noteworthy. edo state is one of the states that contribute significantly to gdp in nigeria. the state currently has the fifth highest internally generated revenue in nigeria (vanguard, 2016) and is currently nigeria’s second largest producer of rubber and oil palm (world bank, 2015). agriculture is the mainstay of the edo economy and a large proportion of the state citizens depend on agricultural activities for their income. included among the crops cultivated in the state are oil palm, rubber, cassava, rice, plantain, yam, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, cashew, groundnuts, tomatoes, cotton, and tobacco. a number of agro-processing businesses in the oil palm and rubber processing industry like okomu oil palm plc and presco nigeria plc and several agricultural research institutes such as the nigerian institute for oil palm research (nifor) and the rubber research institute of nigeria (rrin) are located in the state (world bank, 2015). based on its abundant land and water resources, edo has a great potential to expand agriculture activities and thus improve livelihoods in the state. however, as it applies in most other states in nigeria, the deplorable state of the rural life, especially the rural housing and resultant migration to urban areas create doubts on the possibility of achieving this since the seat of primary production activities lies in the rural areas. in order to address the problems in the rural housing in nigeria, it is pertinent to examine the factors/ forces that influence the development of rural housing. sustainable housing provision requires proper definition of housing needs, and the participation of the end users to ensure their satisfaction. without reference to the perceptions and values of the people, most housing programmes often fail. this is because the inhabitants are in the best position to identify their needs, and order their priorities (ayoola and amole, 2014). attitudes towards space, use and organization of space, are all linked to certain factors which are often best understood by the inhabitants themselves. local settlements have vast understanding of their environment, their local building resources and the ways of making the best uses of them. thus housing that will be acceptable by the local settlements must have put into consideration the cultural, climatic, and socio-economic circumstances of the people. at the level of planning and decision-making, local participation is indispensable to sustainable housing. in the light of this background, this study intends to investigate the drivers of rural housing development in edo state, nigeria taking the end users as the study focus. this is with a view to providing information relevant to arriving at well-targeted policies that will help the government and other stakeholders in effective and efficient prioritization of rural housing development efforts. literature as regards rural housing in nigeria has been dominated by housing conditions and implications t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 37 on rural health life, evaluation of rural housing problems, relevance of infrastructural facilitates to rural housing development, micro and mortgage financing of rural housing and housing qualities in the rural areas (ogu, 1994; toyobo et al, 2014; ijaiya et al., 2014; olawepo, 2009; ogundahunsi and adejuwon 2014). literature on the factors influencing rural housing development in nigeria, despite its importance, is sparse in literature, thus this study comes in to bridge this gap. the study focuses on edo state due to its rich agricultural and other resources base and the potential contributions these can make to improved livelihood in nigeria if the rural housing challenges are tackled. 2. literature review housing, in general, is the process of providing a residential environment made up of shelter, infrastructure and services; to others, it extends beyond this as it represents one of most recognised pointers to a person’s standard of living and recognition in the society (nubi, 2008). housing in this perspective extends beyond the physical structures to the neighbourhood and infrastructure. turner (1972) added that it involves land, labour and finance acquisition processes. the housing system determines the full range of inter-relationships between all of the actors (individual and corporate), housing units and institutions involved in the production, consumption and regulation of housing (bourne, 2007). it encompasses interactions among the organization of the housing market (the institutional structure), the actors (supply & demand), and housing policy, particularly the economic, demographic, political and spatial factors which influence these (van der heijden, 2013). an inclusive housing system stimulates adequate housing production, helps produce a mix of housing choice (tenure, location, and quality) and assist those who cannot afford adequate and appropriate housing (van der heijden, op cit.). efficient housing provision is therefore hinged on an inclusive, active and effective housing system. there are several factors which determine/influence the provision/ development of housing. aribigbola (2008) pointed out availability of income and stability and effectiveness of existing policies, regulations and practices. many a times, the low income earners attract less attention by investors hence, majority of the rural dwellers, most of who fall in this category suffer as housing providers pay less attention to their needs. according to olotuah (2009) socio-economic circumstances, cultural background, world views, and the political and economic situation of the country are determinants of users’ housing needs. in order to capture the needs of the rural populace in housing policies, an indepth understanding of housing values of the prospective beneficiaries of the policies must be taken into cognisance by the policy makers. beamish (1989) describes housing values as the preferences and choices that people consider in housing selection. this is in line with roske (1983)’s definition: “the underlying criteria for choice in housing and other aspects of life”. beyer (1959) came up with four hierarchy of values: economy, family (physical, mental health and family centrism), personal (aesthetics, leisure and equality) and social storage. economythose falling in this category pay more attention to how much they can make economic use of goods and services. their choices are based on the selling price and good value for money or sound business judgement. familyfactors that foster good family relationships and unity within the family and how they influence the physical and mental well-being of family members are prioritized by this cluster. personalthose in this category are individualistic and desire independence and self-expression. they take personal view of their physical and social environment. socialfamilies in this category view housing in terms of its effect on their social status. this cluster is considered upwardly mobile. deeply subsumed in the social criteria for housing selection are the cultural and ethnic values (olayiwola et al, 2006; makinde, 2015). spencer-oatey (2008) describes culture a set of basic assumptions and values, orientations to life, beliefs, policies, procedures and behavioral conventions that are shared by a group of people, and that influence (but do not determine) each member’s behavior and his/her interpretations of the ‘meaning’ of other people’s behavior. ethnicity is a term that is used to refer to a wide variety of groups who might share a language, historical origins, religion, identification with a common nation-state, or cultural system (spencer-oatey, 2012). the nature of the relationship of a group’s ethnicity to its culture will vary greatly depending on a number of other important characteristics. for example, the sharing of cultural traditions and customs, community institutions and establishments, and similar labor market experiences may all act to facilitate the concentration of the members of an ethnic group (makinde, 2015). culture, ethnicity, race, nationality and similar other phenomenon are collectively referred to in literature as “sociocultural factors” (morris and winter, 1978; chiu, 2002; jiboye, 2004) the satisfaction derived by the inhabitants of a particular housing unit is a reflection of the degree to which they feel in conformity with their socio-cultural background (jiboye 2008). according to olayiwola et al, (2006), “if the essence of a house is to be fully appreciated within the context of human habitation, then the need for the preservation and promotion of socio-cultural values through housing design and forms should not be predicated on emotional and overzealous rhetoric, but on the relationship between housing and cultural structures”.lin shi (2005) also corroborates beyer (1959)’s hierarchy of value that most households hold hierarchy of values as against just one value. even within a household, individual members hold different forms of housing values. according to lindamood & hanna (1979), households’ housing decisions are arrived at by trading off different housing values within the family. abraham maslow’s hierarchy of needs recognised the unlimited nature and insatiability of human wants. when one is satisfied, another need emerges (maslow, 1954). thus a complete satisfaction is impossible. in such situation, the more important values have to be met one after the other and certain tradeoffs will be made. in abdul (2008), adeniyi (2007), bourne (2007) and chatterjee (2008), availability of finance is noted as a 38 t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 primary determinant of housing development. adamu (2007) asserts that housing provision is hinged on effectiveness in land administration. egunjobi, (2007) makes reference to availability of loan or other form of assistance for building. aribigbola (2011) identified the pointers of sustainability in housing provision as housing quality, affordability and social equity and justice in terms of accessibility. in order to achieve sustainability in housing provision there is need for major changes in the society, institutions need to be restructured and management approaches fine-tuned. it requires the appropriate political will based on the conviction of the responsibility of government to its citizens, and the need to create humane and decent environment for dignified living. according to olotuah and bobadoye (2009), adequate priority should be given to the housing needs of the population, coupled with a well worked out and coordinated programme to achieve this, if sustainable housing must be realised. sustainable housing provision is thus subject to such underlying factors as decision making, policy formulation, policy execution and monitoring, social acceptability and economic feasibility. these factors must take into cognizance the bottom-up participatory approach in housing provision involving genuine local participation by people at the grassroots level. bello and olatubara (2014) noted that the social, cultural, environmental, and economic facets of housing should be addressed in an integrated fashion. for example, affordable housing should not be considered only on cost basis; environmental and social issues (including people preferences, lifestyles, and cultural aspirations), as well as economic impacts should not be addressed separately nor ignored. according to the authors, accumulation of vulnerabilities and precarious housing situations results when any dimension of sustainability is ignored. planning and building housing within an integrated sustainability framework makes it more accessible to low-income rural households and responds to their diverse social and cultural needs. this will have multiple positive outcomes for people’s physical and mental health and safety, for economy, and for the built and natural environments. besides, sustainable houses hold up for a longer time, making them a smart investment for government and other stakeholders. several studies have been conducted to inquire into the factors influencing housing development/ housing provision, especially in the rural areas, being the focus of this study. some of these include shui et al (2014) which examined the influencing factors on resettled farmer’s satisfaction and occupancy under the policy of “the balance between urban construction land increasing and rural construction land decreasing” in chengdu city, china. the result of the logistic regression carried out revealed that the positive factors that contribute to the famer’s satisfaction, include land-rights guarantees, compensation for land consolidation, sewage treatment and the living environment. in contrast, public facilities, commercial service networks and resettled area’s maintenance are negative factors for farmer’s satisfaction. this study focused majorly on resettled farmers and evaluations were based on a particular rural housing policy. the result therefrom can thus not be generalized on other rural housing planning efforts, especially those not targeted at a particular group. essendi and madise (2014) examined the relationships between perception of development and observed socioeconomic, demographic and wellbeing variables in rural kenya. using structural equation modeling techniques to analyze data collected from 275 individuals, selected at the individual and household levels, significant relationships were found between perception of development and gender, age, perceived household wellbeing and health risk factors (alcohol use and cigarette smoking). this study concluded that even within the same community, people’s perceptions will vary depending on their age, gender, perceived household wellbeing and health risk factors including alcohol use and having ever smoked tobacco products. the study however did not consider other external factors like government legislations, infrastructure etc. and their impact on actual or perceived rural housing development. beer and tually (2012) examined the drivers that influence the characteristics and operation of housing markets and housing affordability in rural and regional areas of australia. fifteen case study locations were chosen across a range of regional areas, spanning nonmetropolitan population centers through to rural and remote regions. drawing on abs census data and house and unit price data, the study revealed that private rental supply in particular has been under-developed. this is due to a shortage of investors, inappropriate planning regulations and, in some cases, the low wage and high variability labour markets in these regions which do not offer sufficient comfort for investors. also lack of economies of scale in rural and remote australia is considered to be a barrier to housing supply. the study, though similar in focus, is however based on a more developed economy which differ in characteristics from an emerging economy like nigeria. jamini et al (2014) reviewed and assessed the factors influencing villagers’ level of satisfaction with rural housing in kermanshah province, iran. using descriptive and analytical survey on rural households selected in four avramanat township located in kermanshah province, it was discovered that the satisfaction level of the rural residents was less than average. in general economic and health factors proved to be the most important factors influencing satisfaction levels in the four areas surveyed. as observed on other existing studies, only a few factors were examined in this study. there are several other factors which define the nature of development in rural housing. this study intends to cover some of these factors. ebadi et al (2015) examined the functional changes of the rural settlements of southwestern tehran in the postislamic revolution in iran (1978-2014). three hundred and seventy four (374) heads of households were sampled on 13 villages and four rural districts using cluster sampling. the results indicated that villages in the southwest of tehran during the revolution years were involved mostly in primary functions such as agriculture, animal husbandry and horticulture while the industry and services in rural areas were at the lowest level. the presence of industries, factories and workshops in agricultural lands surrounding villages, low prices of t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 39 agricultural lands and the expansion of communication networks have extended various functions including industrial and service functions. the evaluation is time specific and the study was particularly tailored at measuring the impact of the post islamic revolution. the study of jabareen (2005) examined the relationship between culture and housing preferences in gaza, palestinian. relying on amos rapoport’s framework, the author segregated “culture” into different components of gender-to-face, politics, religion, kinship, and social relations to predict housing preferences in gaza city. the result of the face-to-face interview revealed that among cultural components, kinship relations and attitudes toward women are likely to be crucial for individual palestinians seeking new housing. in the nigerian property market, olotua and babadoye (2009) reviewed the intervention of the public sector in housing in nigeria and critically examines the impact on the general populace, especially the urban poor. the study discovered that the involvement of the public sector in housing in nigeria has been more of policy formulation than housing delivery. it asserts that the bottom-up approach, involving the direct participation of the local communities is vital in ensuring sustainability in housing provision. the study is not only targeted majorly at the urban poor, it also focuses mainly on the intervention of the public sector. aribigbola (2008) examined the suitability and potential of the policies to addressing housing affordability and shortages as well as the impact of the policy on housing delivery in akure, ondo state, nigeria as a case study. using structured questionnaire administered on selected residents of the city, the study revealed that the policy has not made much contribution to housing provision. the paper argues that although the policy poses great potentials to improving housing delivery, there is a need to rethink and repackage the policy so that majority can benefit from it. the study also stressed the need to incorporate social housing into the policy to assist the very poor that cannot take care of their housing consumption needs. the study concluded that the approach of leaving housing provision to the vagaries of market forces would not be expected to provide affordable housing especially to the poor. it is also apparent from this study that the focus is on evaluation of existing housing policies and the study area is urban. inquiry into the factors that will influence rural housing is not directly addressed in this study. toyobo et al (2011) assessed the relevance of infrastructural facilities to rural housing development as it is applied to lagelu local government in oyo state, nigeria. the study identified the various rural development programmes embarked upon by the local government, examined the socio economic importance of rural development projects executed by the lagelu local government and assessed the existing infrastructural facilities in the area. using descriptive statistical techniques, the findings reveal inadequacy of infrastructural facilities, absence of economic empowerment programme and poor housing quality. the study recommended that appropriate sustainable measures be put forward in order to improve the infrastructural facilities coupled with relevant programmes of reducing poverty in lagelu local government area. also, as observed on other studies, this study is evaluative and assessed existing rural development programmes and infrastructural base in the study area. the above studies and several other existing studies have focused less on the choices and preferences of the rural dwellers in housing development and inquiry into the factors influencing rural housing development based on users’ assessment is sparse despite the importance to effective housing provision, especially in the rural areas. this study therefore fills the existing gap in literature, first by evaluating the existing housing system, based on assessment of the rural inhabitants’ challenges and level of satisfaction and second, by inquiring into the factors that will influence development in the rural housing, taking into cognizance, the choices and preferences of the rural dwellers in ebele community, edo state, nigeria. 3. data and methodology the study was carried out in ebele community of edo state, nigeria. ebele village is situated in igueben local government of edo state. its geographical coordinates are 6 o 30’ 0” north and 6 o 13’0” east. ebele is surrounded by communities such as amahor, ekpon, ewohinmi, ewossa, idunmuodi, izogen, ogwa. the communities that make up ebele are eguare, ologhe, okuta, idumowu and okpujie. the economic mainstay of ebele include commerce, cottage industry (cloth weaving, basket making, etc.), agriculture, furniture making, wood, etc. in addition, ebele is also reputed for palm wine tapping and oil palm production. ebele is one of the major traditional towns in esan, linking to the benin kingdom, otherwise known as the binis like most other esan communities that are involved in the cottage industry. the population of ebele appears to be controversial or unknown, however, igueben local government of which ebele is a major constituent part has a population of 69639 according to 2006 population census. ebele as a local community has relied on local processing of its agricultural products. thus, from production to processing to distribution, the economy still relies on manual inputs and implements not sufficient to transform the economic base from subsistence to commercial. thus, with support, ebele stand the chance of an industrial revolution in which palm wine, palm oil and industrialization in general can experience a transformation. with its vast land suitable for agriculture, industrial agricultural inputs remain the viable instrument of economic turnaround for the people. this initiative is very likely to spread to the communities contiguous to it showing that the central position that ebele occupies in the community would not only affect ebele but its surroundings and neighborhood communities as well. in recent times, there has been a drift of population, especially the youths, from ebele community and other villages in the local government into surrounding urban areas in the state in search for employment opportunities and better living conditions. there is therefore particular need to examine the factors that will keep the inhabitants 40 t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 in the village to enable them explore the opportunities in the rural life. given the contribution of housing to rural living conditions, inquiry into the factors influencing the rural housing development is pertinent. for this study, data were collected from the five communities that make up ebele village. thirty (30) respondents were selected purposively from each of the five communities, adding up to 150 questionnaire distributed in all. selection was done to ensure spread across geographical space, living standard, family size, and age groups. out of the 150 questionnaire distributed, 106 were retrieved. the questionnaire detailed the personal characteristics of the respondents and information relating to the existing housing structure, its performance and the respondents’ preference on housing choice in the area. the data were analysed using frequency counts and mean. frequency counts were mainly used in analysing information related to the personal characteristics of the respondents and the dwelling units they occupy while mean value was used in analysing those related to the level of satisfaction on the existing housing system, challenges on existing housing structure, housing finance choices, factors influencing the housing development and the infrastructural needs in the housing sector. the mean values were figured out from the respondents’ ratings of the parameters used in measuring the housing characteristics and preferences. the ratings were in five scales (5, representing the highest scale and 1, the least). from the ratings, the mean values for each of the parameters were calculated by multiplying the total frequency of response on each scale with the weight attached. the resultant figures gotten from each scale were added up and divided by the total response on each of the parameters. this is further presented in equation 1 below. 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 = ∑ 𝑅×𝑊51 𝑇 (1) where: r = total number of responses on a particular scale on each parameter w= weight attached to each scale (ranging from 1 to 5) t= total number of responses on all scales for each parameter the resultant mean values were then used to rank the parameters where appropriate. the section below details the result of the analysis. 4. result and implications this section is divided into five subsections. the first, reporting the general characteristics of the participant and the dwelling units they occupy. following this is a general assessment of the existing housing system in the study area. thereafter, information regarding the housing finance structure of the area is presented. data on the motivations behind the occupants’ housing choices in the area is presented next and the section concludes with implications of the results and conclusions. 4.1 general characteristics of participants table 1 presents the general characteristics of the participants in the survey. from table 1, it is evident that the participants are spread across the various adult age categories with majority, between ages 40-60 years. there were no single respondents and majority of the respondents have spent at least 30 years in the locality. only a few studied beyond secondary school level, 58.5% of the participants do not earn more than n20,000 per month and majority’s occupation is farming. household sizes of the respondents range from 1 to 10 and the modal mode of ownership is self-ownership. this result reveals that the respondents consists majorly of low income middle aged and older adults, majority of whom are illiterate and whose major occupation is farming. from the result, it is also apparent that the respondents have lived in the community a period of time to be able to give relevant information on the housing systems. table 1: general characteristics of participants and housing units category frequency % age 31-40 12 11.3 41-50 42 39.6 51-60 40 37.7 61-70 12 11.3 marital status married 90 84.9 widowed 16 15.1 number of years spent in the locality 1-10 4 3.8 11-20 17 16 21-30 8 7.6 31-40 18 16.9 41-50 23 21.7 51-60 28 26.4 61-70 8 7.6 level of education no formal education 12 11.3 primary education 36 34.0 junior secondary school certificate 11 10.4 senior secondary school certificate 26 24.5 adult education 4 3.8 hnd/bsc 17 16.0 monthly income in naira 1000-10,000 9 8.5 11000-20,000 53 50.0 21,000-30,000 5 4.7 31,000-40,000 16 15.1 41,000-50,000 6 5.7 51,000-60,000 8 7.5 61,000-70,000 9 8.5 major occupation farming 72 67.9 trading 8 7.5 artisan 4 3.8 farm produce processing 4 3.8 others 18 17.0 household size 1-5 54 50.9 6-10 52 49.1 t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 41 mode of ownership self-owned 36 34 inherited 15 14.2 rented 29 27.4 family house 26 24.5 total 106 100 4.2 level of satisfaction on the existing housing system before examining the factors influencing housing development in the area, the occupants’ level of satisfaction was sought first, to be able to detect the gaps to be filled on housing in the area. from table 2 below, the mean value observed on the level of satisfaction is 3.30. this indicates an average level of satisfaction. twenty eight (26.4%) expressed total dissatisfaction on the existing housing situation in the study area. this result reveals that a lot of gap can still be filled to optimise the existing level of satisfaction on the housing situation. to prevent further emigration in this area, there is therefore need to improve on the housing condition through strategies tailored especially to the housing preferences of the rural dwellers. in order to further explain the occupants’ level of satisfaction, the respondents were asked to indicate and rate (on a five point scale: very severe -5, to not severe-1) the housing challenges they are facing. the housing challenges limiting the occupants’ level of satisfaction is as presented in table 3. the following challenges (in rank order) have been ranked relatively higher: “inadequate infrastructure”, “inadequate capital” and “high building cost”. high building cost is traceable to poor infrastructure system which accentuates difficulties in transporting building materials. challenges relating to housing structure, legislative system and public housing are less pronounced in the area. since only 27.4% of the respondents occupy rented apartments, provision of public housing is less popular as an alternative housing option in the area as most inhabitants occupy self-owned or family houses. from this result, it is apparent that the more pressing challenges centre on infrastructure and availability of fund for housing development. this result is in tandem with african monitor (2012)’s assertion that inadequate and unreliable infrastructure services are common in the majority of rural communities in africa. according to adebayo (2014) the issue of funding is a big challenge on rural housing and other rural development programmes in nigeria. sustainable housing should therefore focus on issues relating to affordability and improvement in housing quality through better infrastructure. these housing challenges recorded are peculiar to rural areas (wahab, 1993; ibimilua and ibitoye, 2015) and are traceable to weak rural development structure and less concentration of development effort on rural areas relative to urban areas. table 2: respondents’ rating of satisfaction on existing housing system very satisfactory moderately satisfactory slightly satisfactory indifferent not satisfactory mean s.d. total frequency 4 33 24 17 28 3.30 1.266 106 percentage 3.8% 31.1% 22.6% 16.0% 26.4% 100.0% table 3: challenges on existing housing system mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean min max rank lower bound upper bound inadequate infrastructure 4.54 0.692 0.067 4.4 4.67 3 5 1 inadequate capital to build 4.43 0.895 0.087 4.26 4.61 2 5 2 high building cost 4.19 1.374 0.133 3.92 4.45 1 5 4 unavailability of building materials in the locality 4.14 0.81 0.079 3.99 4.3 2 5 5 difficulty in accessing land for building 3.76 1.262 0.123 3.52 4.01 1 5 6 inadequate expertise to handle desired building style 3.25 1.194 0.116 3.02 3.48 1 5 7 unaffordable housing structure 3.21 1.426 0.138 2.93 3.48 1 5 8 complicated legislative system which inhibits flexibility 3.13 1.219 0.118 2.9 3.37 1 5 9 inaccessible public housing structure 3.12 1.35 0.131 2.91 3.34 1 5 10 since shortage of capital for housing development is a major challenge to housing in the locality, inquiry into the existing housing finance options in the area is pertinent to solving housing challenges related to housing finance. in order to achieve this, a pilot study was carried out to identify the existing housing finance structure in the area. the result reveals only four major sources. these include personal savings, borrowing from cooperative societies, support from relatives and borrowing from banks. table 4 below presents the result on extent of use of the alternative housing finance sources in the area. it can be seen from the table that personal savings is the most frequently used, followed by borrowings from cooperative societies and support from relatives. only a few of the inhabitants borrow from the banks to execute housing projects. this is traceable to the low cost housing being adopted predominantly in the area adopted in the locality and possibly, paucity of other alternative housing 42 t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 finance options in the locality. this result is in line with akeju (2007)’s submission that nigeria is yet to develop a vibrant mortgage market and houses continue to be provided through the tortuous traditional method of buying land and building over some years, which could be an individual's entire life time.to improve on existing housing finance structure, there is need for introduction of better housing finance alternatives, coupled with effective awareness strategy to sensitise the inhabitants on impact on improved housing systems. . table 4: extent of use of alternative housing finance sources in the locality n mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean minimum maximum rank lower bound upper bound personal savings 106 4.64 .928 .090 4.46 4.82 1 5 1 cooperative/meeting borrowings 106 3.47 1.007 .098 3.28 3.67 1 5 2 support from relatives 106 3.23 1.132 .110 3.01 3.44 1 5 3 loan from banks 106 1.63 .735 .071 1.49 1.77 1 4 4 the respondents were asked the factors that will influence housing development in the locality. table 5 below presents the result of the survey. the result is that cultural and ethnic reasons were perceived most important factors influencing housing development in the area. other factors that also ranked high include “proximity to place of work”, “proximity to friends and families”, “environmental friendliness of the area”, “accessibility and affordability of the land” and “availability of better infrastructure”. the result reveals that the respondents place high value on socio cultural values even above neighborhood and infrastructural factors. this finding is in consonance with axton (2013) and bello and olatubara (2014) that culture influences housing choices and behaviors. according to fao (n.d), most rural societies are relatively 'integrated', in the sense that the various components of life (e.g. agricultural and non-agricultural, 'economic', 'social' end 'political', religious and secular) are closely interrelated. rural people do not easily recognize the distinctions which planners, extension workers and other government officials make between, for example, the responsibilities of different agencies or 'economic' and 'social' planning, because in their own lives all these things affect each other. in line with the findings in jabareen (2005), cultural values such as kingship and social relations were leading predictors of housing development in edo state followed closely by religious consideration. thus, an integrated approach to planning that will meet the yearnings of rural dwellers must not only be limited to the planning point of view (e.g. the 'agricultural' or the 'economic') but take account of other related aspects of kingship, social relations and religion. the implication of this is that whatever form housing development initiatives may take, adequate cognizance must be taken to ensure that the people get satisfaction on matters that border on their culture and ethnicity. some neighborhood factors, infrastructural and security factors are also deemed to be of priority. factors deemed less important include “proximity to recreational activities”, “quietness and serenity of the environment” and “religious reasons” in rank order. table 5: factors influencing housing development in the locality mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean min max lower bound upper bound cultural reasons 4.35 0.479 0.047 4.26 4.44 4 5 ethnic reasons 4.18 0.629 0.061 4.06 4.3 3 5 proximity to place of work 4.08 1.066 0.104 3.87 4.28 2 5 proximity to friends and families 4.08 0.782 0.076 3.93 4.24 3 5 environmental friendliness of the area 4.07 0.876 0.085 3.9 4.23 2 5 accessibility and affordability of the land 4.04 0.816 0.079 3.88 4.19 2 5 availability of better infrastructure 4.04 0.755 0.073 3.89 4.18 3 5 security reasons 3.81 1.061 0.103 3.61 4.02 2 5 proximity to neighborhood services 3.44 0.874 0.085 3.28 3.61 2 5 proximity to market area 3.16 0.852 0.083 3 3.32 2 5 less stringent government regulatory policies 2.95 1.214 0.118 2.72 3.19 1 5 proximity to recreational activities 2.79 1.185 0.115 2.56 3.02 1 5 quietness and serenity of the environment 2.71 1.154 0.112 2.49 2.93 1 5 religious reasons 1.85 0.871 0.085 1 4 in order to further inquire into the occupants’ housing choices, the occupants’ preference on housing features was also surveyed. table 6 below presents the result of the survey. from the result, the occupants’ preference for t.t. oladokun and m.o. komolafe / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 35-45 43 cultural values also played out as “blend with cultural value” also tops the list (mean value of 3.85). this is followed immediately by “bigger housing sizes” and “environmental friendliness of the building systems”. the result revealed a low preference for small housing units possibly due to a relatively large family size by a considerable proportion of the respondents (49.1% have family sizes of more than 5 persons). table 6: housing features preferred by occupants in the area mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean min max lower bound upper bound blend with cultural value 3.85 0.728 0.071 3.71 3.99 2 5 bigger housing sizes 3.66 1.032 0.1 3.46 3.86 2 5 environmental friendliness of the building systems 3.18 0.924 0.09 3.00 3.36 2 5 better internal facilities/conveniences 2.56 0.967 0.094 2.37 2.74 1 5 smaller housing sizes 2.25 0.757 0.073 2.11 2.4 1 4 given the fact that infrastructure is recurrent both on existing housing challenges and housing factors preferred by the occupants, further inquiry on occupants’ preference regarding infrastructural features is pertinent to tackling housing challenges through this medium. table 7: infrastructural features preferred by occupants in the area mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean min max lower bound upper bound electricity supply 4.27 0.64 0.062 4.15 4.4 3 5 educational facilities 4.25 0.741 0.072 4.1 4.39 2 5 health facilities 4.18 0.802 0.078 4.02 4.33 2 5 transportation facilities 3.8 1.073 0.104 3.6 4.01 2 5 recreational facilities 3.54 1.016 0.099 3.34 3.73 2 5 healthy water supply 1.79 0.713 0.069 1 4 table 7 presents the result on occupants’ preference for infrastructural facilities. the result reveals that electricity supply is foremost of the occupants’ infrastructural needs. this is followed by educational facilities, health facilities, transportation facilities and recreational facilities. healthy water supply is the least needed infrastructure in the area. this is attributable to the fact that the inhabitants are used to the use of wells and boreholes. the fact that the mean value on most features is more than 3.5 validates the need for infrastructural facilities in the area 5. conclusion the study revealed that ample gaps can be filled on housing development in the rural areas thereby enhancing more balanced development required for sustainable national growth. existing challenges on rural housing focus on infrastructural and capital shortage. the study also revealed dearth of improved housing finance structure which is partly responsible for the existing rural housing challenges. to improve on the status quo, there is need to step up the existing housing finance structure and strengthen the infrastructural base and social services without playing down on the ethnic and cultural values of the rural life. this will foster the required balance in the rural and urban sectors, thus achieving sustainable national development. the study had evaluated factors responsible for rural housing development in 5 villages in edo state, nigeria and have established a huge gap in meeting the housing needs of the rural populace. inspite of the importance of rural areas in enhancing national development, the study found gross dissatisfaction of rural dwellers with the available housing condition. this hangs largely on the inadequacy of infrastructure and high cost of housing development. in addition, the study found inadequate capital/finance for housing development owing to dependence on personal savings and borrowings from cooperatives societies and family members for finance. inspite of this, housing development is driven at rural areas by the need to preserve their 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(1993), industrialisation and urbanization. being the text of a paper presented at a workshop organized by fedan/lead nigeria, lagos. wardrip, k. williams, l and hague, s. (2011), the role of affordable housing in creating jobs and stimulating local economic development: a review of the literature. washington, dc :center for housing policy. retrieved from http://www2.nhc.org/media/files/housing-andeconomic-development-report-2011.pdf world bank (2015), international development association program document for a proposed development policy credit in the amount of sdr 53.3 million (us$75 million equivalent) to the federal republic of nigeria for a edo state fiscal improvement and service delivery development policy operation. retrieved from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/8800914680 98970115/text/949940pgd0p151010box391420b00ou o090.txt jcbm (2021) 5(1).47-59. the management of theft and vandalism on construction jobsites in the southern region of malawi w. simukonda 1 and n. kamwela 2 1& 2 department of land economy and quantity surveying, malawi university of business and applied sciences received 15 april 2021; received in revised form 18 july 2021 and 28 august 2021; accepted 30 august 2021. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1.1072 abstract the phenomenon of theft and vandalism on construction job sites in sub-saharan africa (ssa) has not been fully explored to guarantee the implementation of evidence-based security management practices (smps) to minimise losses and improve projects' profitability margins. this study investigated the management of theft and vandalism by large contractors in the southern region of malawi to identify implementation issues that need improvement. a quantitative approach using an empirical survey-based questionnaire was adopted. 44 smps identified from the literature review were tested by data collected from a sample survey of 40 large contractors in the southern region of malawi. the descriptive statistical method of mean score ranking was used to analyse the data through ibm statistical package of social sciences (spss) version 20.0. among the five-point likert scale agreement measurements used, 11 smps were found to be "always used", 12 smps "often used", 15 smps "sometimes used", and six smps "rarely used". overall, the top three highly ranked smps (in descending order) were inventorying construction materials, tools and equipment, termination of employment for offenders, and reporting theft and vandalism to enforcement agencies. contrariwise, the use of closed-circuit television (cctv), alarm systems and access control systems (acs) was the least ranked smps. the contractors’ management improvements for theft and vandalism would need to focus on implementing proactive anti-theft and anti-vandalism smps whose choice should be informed by comprehensive jobsite security risk assessment. dissemination of the results may help contractors understand their security management strategies and implement practical solutions for curbing theft and vandalism on job sites to minimise its endemic effect on contractors’ financial performance. keywords: theft and vandalism; security management practices; likert scale; malawi. 1. introduction over the recent two decades, incidents of theft and vandalism in the construction industry have evolved from conventional theft and vandalism of materials and fixtures to sophisticated crimes targeting expensive construction assets. the consequences of theft and vandalism are direct and indirect costs incurred by contractors. farinloye et al. (2012) reported that contractors lose huge sums of money through theft and vandalism each year. direct costs comprise replacement costs and a residual value of the stolen or damaged item (ablordeppey et al., 2020). conversely, indirect costs consist of productivity and 1 corresponding author. email address: wsimukonda@poly.ac.mw ©2021the authors. published by uct libraries. this is an open access article under the cc by 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ administrative losses, disruption in business operations, lost contracts and penalty clauses (sakurai et al., 2008). financial losses resulting from theft and vandalism have profound negative impacts on projects' profitability margins (berg and hinze, 2005). in order to minimise costs of theft and vandalism and improve profitability, and sustained business growth and stability, contractors are challenged to implement appropriate security management practices (smps). several authors have recommended measures for curbing theft and vandalism on job sites. some of the predominant ones include inventorying construction assets, marking of plant with indelible identifications, use of secure storage areas and university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1. mailto:%20wsimukonda@poly.ac.mw mailto:%20wsimukonda@poly.ac.mw https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 48 w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 perimeter fencing (ablordeppey, 2020: 38-39; edike and babatunde, 2017). however, their effectiveness has been questioned as more incidents of theft and vandalism continue to occur on job sites. other authors have mourned the underutilisation of appropriate measures such as closed-circuit television (cctv), alarm systems and background checks on applicants' records (edike and babatunde, 2017). this has been partly attributed to high capital cost (ablordeppey et al., 2020) associated with their implementation and, therefore, common among small and medium-sized contractors. however, for large contractors, the cost-benefit analysis for adopting these smps is sufficiently compelling. unfortunately, these smps continue to be neglected, as recently observed by ablordeppey et al. (2020) and large contractors, according to farinloye et al. (2012), continue to experience huge losses from theft and vandalism. therefore, crime prevention has become a major concern for players in the construction industry as losses from theft and vandalism can greatly affect the profitability of contractors. considering the industry's economic contribution to the national economies, effective security strategies must be explored and implemented to minimise losses to contractors. further, theft and vandalism remain insufficiently researched phenomena within the construction management discipline in africa, specifically, sub-saharan africa (ssa). several studies, including that of edike & babatunde (2017), farinloye et al. (2013) and ablordeppey et al. (2020), were conducted in nigeria and ghana. these studies may not adequately portray the experiences of ssa countries to the phenomenon. the lack of practical experience of contractors smps could be the missing link in implementing evidence-based strategies to make construction job sites less attractive to thieves and vandals. further, not much is read into the smps used on construction job sites due to the previous studies probing few smps. the current study conducted a thorough literature review and compiled a long list of successful smps for preventing crime on construction job sites, which was then probed. hence, the purpose of this study was an assessment of smps implemented by large contractors in curbing crimes on construction job sites in the southern region of malawi. the following section defines the terms theft and vandalism and the kinds of crime incidents and criminals. various causes of theft and vandalism, including locations of job sites, are discussed in section 3, while sections 4 and 5 highlight the cost of theft and vandalism and symmetrical measures for their prevention on job sites. section 6 presents methods used to collect and analyse the data on the assessment of smps implemented by contractors. section 7 discusses the findings related to the data collected and the literature reviewed, while section 8 provides major practical and theoretical implications of the study. 2. an overview of construction theft and vandalism the people’s law dictionary (1981) defines theft as “a generic term for all crimes in which a person intentionally and fraudulently takes personal property of another without permission or consent and with the intent to convert it to the takers’ use (including potential sale).” construction job sites are naturally at high risk of victimisation due to the valuable assets found on them. such items include large excavators, loaders, vibrator rollers, dumpers, generators, pumps, drillers, breakers, shutters and scaffolds (gwynn et al., 2005). according to boba and santos (2006), theft of high-value assets such as construction plant results in loss of profits for contractors and sordid gain and filthy lucre for criminals. conversely, farinloye et al. (2012) describes vandalism as a crime of destroying or damaging something or property deliberately and for no good reason. though it does not result in massive losses for contractors, berg and hinze (2005) states that vandalism is a nuisance that must be avoided. vandalism manifests in the form of destruction of in-place materials, graffiti, broken glass and damage to construction plants (farinloye et al., 2012). taken together, theft and vandalism ought to be critical facets of commercial construction projects which must be given attention. boba and santos (2006) categorise perpetrators of theft and vandalism into amateur opportunists, insiders and professional thieves. the authors describe amateur opportunists as people who dwell or travel within the vicinity of the jobsite and who usually steal small items circumstantially. however, such burglars do not pose a higher security risk than insiders if job sites are well protected. instead, insiders contractors' employees, pose a higher security risk because they know the job site's security procedures. even more risky is theft by professional thieves, who use sophisticated means to steal high-value construction assets (ablordeppey et al., 2020). 3. factors contributing to theft and vandalism understanding the factors that predominantly cause theft and vandalism on construction job sites is critical for selecting effective security measures for curbing the crimes. the following section discusses several factors that emerge as contributing to the vulnerability of job sites to theft and vandalism. 3.1 location and accessibility construction job sites locations and accessibility are important risk factors. warne (2016) found that crime increases when working in or around cities and big towns. similarly, sakurai et al. (2008) observed consistently higher theft and vandalism rates in central business districts (cbds), reporting 40% and 25% each for job sites located in inner-city suburbs and outer suburbs respectively. generally, cities and towns are characterised by high population and unemployment rates which may instigate theft and vandalism on job sites. iwuagwu (2014) affirmed a direct relationship between locations with a high population and unemployment rates with the crime rate. sakurai et al. (2008) and boba and santos (2006) state that construction job sites, greater visibility and accessibility further compounds the problem, especially for job sites with inferior security features. 3.2 time and days construction job sites theft and vandalism are predominant on specific days and times. a study by sakurai et al. (2008) discovered that 67% of theft occurs w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 49 during weekdays and 33%, with more incidents of vandalism during weekends. this is corroborated by smith and walmsley (1999), who discovered that stolen equipment was reported seen on friday and missing the following monday. further, sakurai et al. (2008) showed that theft and vandalism mainly occur in the evening and at night, with few pockets of incidents in the morning and evening. these observations could be attributed to fewer workers and guardianship available at the jobsite at the mentioned timestamp. berg and hinze (2005) characterises a construction jobsite as a ‘ghost town’ after hours and, as such, a soft target by criminals. 3.3 high cost and shortage of construction items the high cost of construction assets encourages theft and vandalism on construction job sites and increases the risk of victimisation by professional thieves. similarly, a shortage of construction materials such as cement, wood and steel in local markets instigates burglary. shortage of materials is attributed to production and logistical challenges inherent in the supply chain, for the importdependent products and inability to meet local demand by local suppliers, for locally produced materials (rahman et al., 2017). high demand for construction materials in the local markets may create an appetite for theft of cash value materials, which according to ablordeppey et al. (2020), may be sold to readily available buyers in the steal-to-order business. 3.4 inferior security measures according to sakurai et al. (2008), hardly any optimal security measures are used to secure construction job sites. if any, contractors generally employ unsophisticated and relatively easy to breach measures. several thefts and vandalism incidents have occurred on job sites, with some of the smps, such as fencing and storage areas, duly in place (berg and hinze, 2005). 3.5 negligence among the contractors’ negligent tendencies include delivering materials onsite before their installation time, the tendency of not checking tools in and out daily and non-reporting of theft and vandalism incidents to police agencies (boba & santos, 2006). such proclivities give employees the impression that their employer is not serious about the security of the job site. less attention given to security issues breeds rationalisation (berg and hinze 2005), resulting in more thefts and losses for the contractor. 3.5 labour practices crime on construction job sites may be a sign of reprisals as a result of unfair labour practices. unfair termination of employees accounts for many incidents of crime on job sites (berg and hinze 2005; farinloye et al., 2012). the authors suggest reinforcement of security on construction job sites, especially in the moments leading to and after a difficult termination or dismissal. 4. cost of construction theft and vandalism the losses due to construction job sites theft and vandalism run into millions of dollars. in europe, the value of plant purloined annually is as high as $9 billion with around $144 million, $90 million and $38 million in france, netherlands and belgium, respectively (gwynn et al., 2005). in the uk and the us, the annual loss due to equipment theft accounts for £500 million (allianz, 2018) and $1 billion (sharma & bausman, 2009), respectively. the us's mean dollar losses resulting from theft and vandalism of construction assets were $1,388/1 million of work performed (berg & hinze, 2005) and $100,000 (montealegre, 2003), respectively. according to big box (2018), construction job sites theft account for the loss of r1 billion in the south african construction industry. the direct costs of theft and vandalism include replacement cost (new-for-old) and residual value (depreciated) and indirect costs such as productivity loss, hire replacement cost, increased premium insurance and social costs (sakurai et al., 2008: 20). however, the figures given above could be a tip of an iceberg as the fuller and accurate loss associated with theft and vandalism is unknown owing to the lack of systematic methods of estimating the losses (berg & hinze, 2005:). berg and hinze (2005) summarises the consequential impact of theft and vandalism as having “a direct impact on the success of a project and diminish the potential profitability of the project” under construction. addressing theft and vandalism management challenges could therefore protect millions of dollars and improve contractors’ financial performance. 5. construction job sites security measures 5.1 perimeter fencing perimeter fencing is temporary structures installed to protect the peripheral of the construction job site and used as a delaying tactic measure in crime prevention (edike and babatunde, 2017). several forms of perimeter fencing exist, including solid flat-sided hoardings and mesh wire fencing (bsia, 2012; farinloye et al., 2013). perimeter fences should be designed to prevent climbing by installing ant-climb features such as spikes or barbed wire and eliminate any form of hand and footholds (bsia, 2012). the type of fence to be employed on a construction job site should depend on the nature of the perceived threat in the area. where possible, it is recommended to construct permanent fencing, which usually stands on a concrete foundation and prevent burrowing (bsia, 2012). overall, fencing is an effective security measure common among contractors (ablordeppey et al., 2020). 5.2 entrances and exits minimising the number and locking of the gates optimise accessibility control at the job sites (bsia, 2012; ablordeppey et al., 2020). the authors state that entrance and exit should be controlled by guards or electronic entrance systems. gates must be designed to avoid being easily breached by using locks, protection plates and padlocks (bsia, 2012). where possible, farinloye et al. (2012) recommends off-site parking of workers' private vehicles to minimise vehicular numbers onsite. 5.3 secure storage construction job sites keep high-value assets that need proper storage. for equipment, bsia (2012) recommends designating a secure parking lot with controlled access. workers should ensure that all assets are returned, and 50 w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 keys for vehicles are properly secured. the use of steel vaults with shielded padlocks is recommended for the storage of tools. locked containers or site huts can be used as storage areas. however, extra security features such as steel doors, locks and key controls could be incorporated to make storage areas sturdier (edike and babatunde, 2017). 5.4 security lighting lighting is used as a deterrent mechanism by illuminating the whole construction jobsite or specific areas such as gates or parked equipment locations. it was a highly rated security measure for protecting construction assets (ablordeppey et al., 2020) and a frequently used measure on job sites (sharma and bausman, 2009). however, it is recommended that wires and cables for the lighting network should be barely exposed and switches only accessible to authorised personnel (bsia, 2012). photoelectric cells may be used to protect the lighting from tampering or vandalism by intruders (bsia, 2012). at the minimum, the authors advise directing the lighting inwards to reveal intruders either directly or by silhouette. 5.5 technical systems technical systems comprise cctv, access control systems (acs) and alarm systems (bsia, 2012). they use cameras, multiplexers, monitors, recorders or intrusion detection systems (edike and babatunde, 2017: 35) to provide deterrent and mitigation effects to security risks inherent on construction job sites (bsia, 2012). however, recent studies emanating from countries in western africa, such as nigeria and ghana, indicate that cctv and alarm systems are the least used (edike and babatunde, 2017) and ineffective measures (ablordeppey et al., 2020) for preventing crime on job sites. the observation is attributed to the high capital outlay associated with the technology. additionally, their usage is particularly low among small and medium-size contractors due to low-risk projects such firms executed (edike and babatunde, 2017). however, technical systems are viable for high-risk projects (edike and babatunde, 2017), where the cost-benefit ratio is sufficiently compelling for their deployment (bsia, 2012). 5.6 guarding services the use of guard force was ranked 1st and 2nd as the most frequently used and efficient on job sites of ghanaian contractors, respectively (ablordeppey et al., 2020). depending on the perceived security risk, contractors may employ their trained guards or outsource the services of security companies. however, it is prudent to consider personnel training, qualification (edike and babatunde, 2017), and communication systems for greater liaison with police agencies (bsia, 2012), especially when employing their guards. overall, afterhours guards are common among contractors with higher annual volume turnover (sharma and bausman, 2009). 5.7 policy and processes contractors ought to have a security policy to guide job sites security operations. the policy must lucidly state the obligations and responsibilities of employees (bsia, 2012). some of the measures and processes must include making employees responsible for assets they use, reporting theft and vandalism to police agencies, an anonymous system of reporting suspicious activities, and other legislative and administrative practices such as the procedure for hiring (pre-screening of applicants) and termination of employment, provision for crime prevention coordinator and inventory supervisor (edike and babatunde, 2017; farinloye et al., 2013). administrative processes have proved effective in mitigating crime on construction job sites (sharma and bausman, 2009). for example, assigning specific security-related responsibilities may promote accountability and transparency in theft and vandalism management. other measures for protecting high-value construction assets on job sites include marking all assets with quick visual identifications, maintaining inventory of tools and equipment, immobilising plants, not in use, providing vehicle or product identification numbers and strategic parking of equipment (ablordeppey et al., 2020; edike and babatunde, 2017). a list of smps as reviewed from literature is provided in appendix 1. 6. research methodology the study was aimed at assessing the smps implemented by contractors in the southern region of malawi. a quantitative research approach using a questionnaire survey as an instrument for data collection was adopted. the rationale for this approach was that questionnaires are commonly reported to develop scales intended to measure the frequency of effective constructs such as experiences and processes (fadiya et al., 2012; rowley, 2014). the questionnaire instrument was compiled, piloted and amended as suggested by professional experts. minor changes were made to the actual wording of the smp variables to maximise communication of information in the main stage of the survey. the study targeted senior management personnel of large contractors such as directors and managers. the risk of theft and vandalism is higher on job sites of large contractors (sakurai et al., 2008), and senior management personnel are more likely to be knowledgeable of their companies’ theft and vandalism management practices (farinloye et al., 2013). 6.1 research instrument the survey instrument was structured and comprised questions eliciting single or multiple-choice responses. questionnaires with a combination of response options to questions are common in construction management research (berg & hinze, 2005; babatunde et al., 2018; fadiya et al., 2012). the questionnaire was divided into two major sections. section a sought demographic information of the respondents and the contractors' business characteristics, such as professional roles, experience, age, and size, to determine the credibility of the collected data. section b was designed to assess how frequently particular smps were used to curb theft and vandalism on construction job sites. unlike previous w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 51 studies which had probed relatively fewer smps, such as seven (ablordeppey et al., 2020), 11 (farinloye et al., 2013), 30 (edike & babatunde, 2017), this study tested 44 smps, compiled from a comprehensive literature review of empirical research papers (ablordeppey et al., 2020: 30; farinloye et al., 2013; fadiya et al., 2012; berg and hinze, 2005; edike & babatunde, 2017). the selection was conducted to avoid omissions or repetitions of the measures appearing in various sources. likert scale, one of the most popular response scales used in survey designs (chyung et al., 2017) and general construction management research (danku, 2020; edike & babatunde, 2017; chileshe et al., 2020), was used to capture smps implemented by contractors on job sites. several likert scale formats exist, including a five-point (farinloye et al., 2013), a seven-point (osei-kyei & chan, 2016) and a ten-point (babatunde et al., 2018). however, a five-point likert scale rating is common in construction management research (nyakala et al., 2021; wuni et al., 2021; fadiya et al., 2012). this is due to the reliability and validity to produce unbiased data (chyung et al., 2017). more importantly, a five-point likert scale was adopted to generate interval scale data that could be interpreted using descriptive statistics (chyung et al., 2017). additionally, to avoid cognitive effort and mis-responses due to respondents being under time pressure or less experienced in survey questionnaires, a likert scale rating with fewer descriptors such as five was deemed necessary. a five-point likert scale maximises the communication within the gradations of agreement scales used and allows the respondents to express their opinions succinctly (chyung et al., 2017). however, mid-point likert type scales are criticised for creating response tendencies, satisfying behaviours and social desirability bias (chyung et al., 2017: 17) which compromise the quality of the data. however, response tendencies were avoided in this study by targeting senior management personnel directly involved in decision making regarding the management of theft and vandalism, thereby being unambiguously well knowledgeable on the responses to provide. as such, the respondents were invited to indicate the frequency of use of the smps on a five-point likert scale where 1 = never used, 2 = rarely used, 3 = sometimes used, 4 = often used, and 5 = always used. 6.2 sampling design the study population comprised contractors licensed by malawi’s national construction industry council (ncic) to undertake building and civil engineering works for the financial year 2019-2020. the sampling frame was retrieved from the ncic website and comprised 591 building and civil engineering contractors operating in the southern region of malawi. the purposive sampling method was used to select contractors licensed to operate in financial classes of 6, 7 and 8 (see table 1) for two reasons. first, based on their financial capacity, tiers 6, 7 and 8 are deemed medium and large contractors with higher or no financial limit on contracts they tender for. according to farinloye et al. (2012), large contractors experience huge losses due to theft and vandalism. besides, they are involved in large construction projects where many construction assets are deployed (fadiya et al., 2012). further, large construction projects entail a large onsite construction workforce, putting construction job sites at a higher security risk. second, this profile of respondents tends to have established physical offices for the administration of the questionnaires. this study's questionnaire was self-distributed to avoid very low returns associated with online or emailed questionnaire surveys. a similar approach was employed by edike & babatunde (2017) on a study of crime prevention in ogun state, nigeria. consequently, 98 contractors were sampled to participate in the survey. table 1: ncic classification of contractors class building category (mwk) civil category (mwk) 1 10.0m 10.0m 2 20.0m 20.0m 3 50.0m 50.0m 4 100.0m 100.0m 5 200.0m 200.0m 6 500.0m 500.0m 7 1.0 billion 1.0billion 8 unlimited unlimited note: m = million; mwk = malawi kwacha. (source: ncic, 2019) 6.3 data analysis the study adopted the data analysis techniques as applied by babatunde et al. (2018) and edike & babatunde (2017). the collected data was coded to obtain numeric values and then exported into ibm's statistical package of social sciences (spss) version 20.0. the descriptive statistical methods of the mean score and standard deviation were used to determine the smps used by contractors on construction job sites. the mean scores formed the basis for ranking the smps. standard deviation was provided to rank smps with the same mean scores. in line with babatunde et al. (2018), smps with lower standard deviation were ranked higher than smps with higher standard deviation. the decision rule regarding categorisation of smps about mean values were as follows: ≤ 1.00 = never used, 1.01 to 2.00 = rarely used, 2.01 to 3.00 = sometimes used, 3.01 to 4.00 = often used, and 4.01 to 5.00 = always used. edike & babatunde (2017) used a slightly similar decision rule in their study of crime management on construction sites in nigeria. cronbach’s alpha was used to statistically determine the average interitem correlation of likert scale items in a survey instrument. cronbach’s alpha model is one of the most popular internal consistency statistics used in research studies (babatunde et al., 2018; chileshe et al., 2020). the cronbach’s alpha values range from 0 to 1, where 0 represents no reliability and 1 represents absolute reliability, respectively (wuni et al., 2021). an alpha value greater than 0.70 is considered acceptable (oseikyei & chan 2016). the cronbach's alpha of 0.877 was obtained, which signifies an excellent internal consistency of the survey instrument adopted for this study. the result rendered the dataset reliable for further analysis. further, out of 98 questionnaires distributed, 40 valid questionnaires were used, representing a 40.8% response rate. the survey's number of responses is considered satisfactory as it exceeds the 30-sample central limit theorem espoused in wuni et al. (2021). further, the 52 w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 response rate compares favourably against similar studies, targeting specific geospatial respondents such as 35%, lagos, nigeria, (farinloye et al., 2013), and 8.5%, southeastern, usa (berg and hinze, 2005). 7 results and discussion 7.1 profile of respondents the respondents’ professional roles are considered a good representation of a diverse pool of experts and fields, with at least 60% being project managers and estimators (see table 2). fadiya et al. (2012) observed that directors and managers are decision makers who understand the consequences of theft and vandalism in the construction sector. regarding working experience, 52.5% of the respondents had an accumulated working experience of more than 6 years while 47.5% had up to 5 years. the responses provided by the respondents could thus reflect primarily the contractors’ theft and vandalism management strategies over the years. table 2: respondents' professional roles professional roles frequency % company director 4 10.0 estimators 14 35.0 project manager 10 25.0 site engineer 1 2.5 purchasing coordinator 1 2.5 site agent 2 5.0 others 8 20.0 7.2 business characteristics of contractors the business characteristics of the responding contractors were also necessary for determining the credibility of the responses given to the questions about the contractors’ smps. regarding the age, 61.5% of the responding contractors have been in business for over 11 years (see appendix 2), which is a good reflection of the contractor’s theft and vandalism experiences across projects (edike & babatunde 2017; fadiya et al., 2012). appendix 3 indicates that a considerably higher number of contractors (60.0%) were licensed to operate in financial class 8. this implies that a majority of contractors that took part in the survey operate in the unlimited category, indicating their involvement in mega projects where management of theft and vandalism is paramount. usually, megaprojects entail deploying a substantial numeral of workers and plants (fadiya et al., 2012). a combination of the building (95.0%) and civil engineering (60.0%) contractors responded to the questionnaire, thereby soliciting rich data from a homogenous population. taken together, the information gathered from the contractors could be a true reflection of their smps. 7.3 contractors’ management strategies for theft and vandalism the results for the mean score and ranking of smps are presented in appendix 4. out of 44 smps, 11 smps, representing 25%, fell within the “always used” category, 12 smps (27%) in the ‘often used’ category, 15 smps (34%) in the ‘sometimes used’ category and 6 smps (14%) in the ‘rarely used’ category. none of the smps fell within the ’never used’ category. the results and implications of these findings to the management of theft and vandalism are further discussed in descending order of their respective implementation categories. a table for each category, extracted from appendix 2, has been provided within the text to improve readability. the high mean scores for smps in table 3 indicate their 'always used' status on construction job sites. this finding aligns with a previous study by edike and babatunde (2017) which found an inventory of tools, materials and equipment, storing goods in the secured compound and marking of plant for identification, as the always used smps by contractors. similarly, farinloye et al. (2013) discovered that the most predominant preventative measures for theft of tools on construction sites were maintenance of tool inventory, secure storage and marking of tools. similar findings were also reported by berg and hinze (2005). the study had found that contractors were more likely to use the maintenance of secure storage area (71%), marking of tools (67%) and maintenance of tool inventory (61%) as measures for preventing theft on job sites. equally, the use of guards, fencing, locking gates and marking of the plant were highly ranked smps on a study by ablordeppey et al. (2020). table 3: always used smps security management practices n mean sd rank all construction materials, tools and plants on site are inventoried 40 4.55 0.71 1 termination of employees caught stealing or committing vandalism 40 4.48 0.99 2 report theft and vandalism to the law enforcement agency 40 4.45 0.99 3 minimising the number of entrances 40 4.38 0.93 4 use of own-trained security personnel 40 4.28 1.20 5 use of perimeter fences without barbed wire 40 4.28 1.41 6 assigned personnel with the responsibility of maintaining tight inventory 40 4.23 1.21 7 use of site cabins or containers for storing tools 40 4.23 1.21 8 use of padlocks and locked gates 40 4.20 1.24 9 removal of unused equipment from site 40 4.13 1.07 10 the plant is covered with corporate logo or colours 40 4.05 1.24 11 the prevalence of smps in the ‘always used’ category can be attributed to the location of construction job sites. incidents of crime are high on construction job sites in towns and cities because of high population growth and unemployment rates (warne, 2016). the use of physical measures such as fences, storage areas, minimised and secured gates provide defence depth, especially for construction job sites located in highly populated areas w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 53 such as cbds. physical security measures are employed to demarcate public and private land, prevent viewing of the site interior, restrict trespassing and prevent scaling the fencing (bsia, 2012). besides, the smps in the ‘always used' category may play a crucial role in repelling crimes committed by professional thieves. even though professional thieves employ sophisticated means of committing a crime, using fences, guards, locked gates, and secure storage areas compromise the time efficiency in their criminal operations. while bsia (2012) observes that delaying the action of a criminal increase the chances of their being caught, edike and babatunde (2017) assert that delaying tactics minimise the available time of the criminal for the targeted asset. further, evidence reveals that high crime incidents are reported to take place in the after-hours of weekdays and during weekends (sakurai et al. 2008; smith and walmsley, 1999). providing guardship services, securing storage areas and using padlocks and locked gates minimise crime on construction job sites during odd hours. edike and babatunde (2017) and farinloye et al. (2013) stresses the importance of these smps in maintaining the security of construction assets. ordinarily, theft and vandalism on construction job sites have been attributed to the implementation of minimally inferior measures (sakurai et al., 2008), most of which are smps in the ‘always used’ category. berg and hinze (2005) found that among the contractors that had used fencing, lockboxes, guards and removal of unused items as security measures, three contractors experienced more than 50 theft incidents and two contractors experienced 42 and 109 incidents of vandalism each. an average of 3.6 vandalism incidents was reported each year among the contractors. regardless, implementation of smps in the 'always used' category remains common among contractors in the construction industry. their high implementation cannot, therefore, be taken as a bureaucratic add-on without any additional value. apart from lower cost, other invincible motivating factors such as the duty to fulfil legislative and administrative requirements seem to play a role. termination of employees caught stealing or committing vandalism (2nd, 4.48) is consistent with section 59 of the employment act of malawi of 2000. the act stipulates that an employer is entitled to summarily dismiss an employee where an employee is guilty of serious misconduct inconsistent with the fulfilment of the expressed or implied conditions of his contract of employment (malawi government, 2000). according to bsia (2012), employees have an implied obligation to keep the job sites secure, report crimes, and cooperate with the guard force. employees who steal from job sites would be in contravention of this implied obligation, resulting in dismissal. in effect, ebong (2017) highlights that the law has a deterrent effect. it functions through fear of being apprehended and punished to produce a desired sobering behaviour and repel thieves and vandals. further, part iii and v of the malawi occupational health, safety and welfare act of 1997 assign a legal duty on the employer to ensure the safety of his/her employees and the public at the workplace (malawi government, 1997). in fulfilling this duty, contractors erect fences and use locked gates to protect employees and the public from hazardous construction works. contemporaneously, such measures provide a physical barrier and prevent unauthorised access to the jobsite, especially by amateur opportunists. again, terminating employment for offenders and reporting of crime to law enforcement agencies are enforced as administrative requirements. employment for criminals would be terminated due to disciplinary action, which coincidentally would deter would-be offenders and set good precedence in the fight against crime. conversely, reporting theft and vandalism incidents help contractors with information in applying internal disciplinary and recovery measures. berg & hinze (2005) reported that 76% of contractors in the southeastern united states frequently use the measure on construction job sites. in terms of costs, the ‘always used’ smps are generally unsophisticated in their implementation. ablordeppey et al. (2020) states that such smps entail less technology, making their costs relatively lower than technical systems. this study also conveys that perimeter fencing could be constructed from readily available reusable local materials such as timber, plywood, steel sheets and installed by simply nailing steel sheets or plywood to timber or steel poles. further, steel containers (8th; 4.23) could be brought onto the job site in the early stages of the project to act as temporary storage areas and converted to any preferable use at the end of the project. minimising the number of entry points (4th; 4.38) saves the cost incurred in installing the gates and maintenance of guardianship at access points. likewise, the cost associated with using own-trained security personnel (5th; 4.28) could be relatively lower than hired police patrols (39th 2.03). these approaches achieve additional value without necessarily increasing the cost, thereby being prevalent among contractors. an analysis of smps in the “often used” category (see table 4) indicates that the measures are ordinarily used to supplement smps in the "always used" category. according to the oxford dictionary, supplementary is defined as "provided in addition to something else in order to improve or complete it” (oxford learners dictionary, 2020). multiple examples are given to exemplify this assertion. perimeter fences (6th, 4.28) could be toppled with ant-climb features (16th, 3.45) or used to display no trespassing signs (14th, 3.63); use of storage areas such as containers (8th, 4.23) could be enhanced by installing door and window protectors (13th, 3.63) (bsia, 2012:1920); use of pin and vin (18th; 3.43) is critical in inventory management (1st; 4.55) while delaying delivery of whitegoods (15th; 3.53) minimises the number of unused items onsite (10th; 4.13). these synergies address the inadequacies inherent in the ‘always used’ smps and further explain their dominance among contractors. further, in instances where smps in the “always used” category are breached, smps in the "often used" category provides a security cover. this is achieved through sufficient delay to the action of the intruder caused by anti-climb features, use of protectors on doors and windows, use of padlocks, chains and wheel camps (19th; 3.43) and use of locks on oil and gas tanks (21st; 3.38). the complementarity makes these smps fall in the "often 54 w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 used" category and rank behind smps in the "always used" category. the deployment of smps in the 'often used' category could thus be a matter of choice and pick of measures that better supplement smps within the "always used" category on a particular construction job site. table 4: often used smps security management practices (smps) n mean sd rank category station uniformed guards at entrance gates 40 3.93 1.49 12 often used use of protectors for vulnerable doors and windows 40 3.63 1.31 13 display of " no trespassing " signs 40 3.63 1.51 14 delaying delivery and installation of white goods 40 3.53 1.28 15 use of perimeter fence with barbed wire 40 3.45 1.55 16 providing contact information for a responsible person during nonworking hours 40 3.43 1.17 17 recording of vehicle identification number (vin) or a product identification number (pin) 40 3.43 1.78 18 secure small mobile equipment with padlocks, chains, hitches, wheel clamps 40 3.43 1.14 19 just-in-time delivery of materials and tools 40 3.38 1.51 20 use locks on oil and gas tanks 40 3.38 1.66 21 conduct staff security awareness training 40 3.13 1.59 22 tools such as hammers, shovels are marked with an indelible identification mark 40 3.05 1.50 23 the findings for the 'sometimes used' category indicates that the smps are mainly those used to prevent theft of plant stationed onsite (see table 5). such smps include the use of locking points to immobilise plant (24th; 2.93), strategic parking for large equipment (26th; 2.83), engraving equipment with serial numbers (27th; 2.78), installing plant tracking devices (34; 2.38) and disabling plant with hidden ignition cut-out switch (37th; 2.18). berg & hinze (2005) reported that 67% of contractors parked equipment in well-lighted areas, 43% parked equipment in a specific formation, 42% used strategic parking of equipment, and 37% included additional identification marks on the plant. similar findings were also reported by edike and babatunde (2017) and farinloye (2012). therefore, the prevalence of smps in the ‘sometimes used’ category across studies as measures for securing construction plant entails their effectiveness in preventing theft of machinery. however, large contractors that participated in this study do not use these smps frequently. a plausible explanation for the observation could be that such contractors rely on 'always' and 'often' used smps to mitigate plant theft. again, pre-screening of applicants (35th, 2.35) and employee hotline (38th, 2.05) are not widely adopted, inconsistent with findings of edike & babatunde (2017: 40, 45). pre-screening of applicants ensures that only those individuals without criminal records are employed. similarly, establishing an employee hotline to report crimes ensures that incidents of theft and vandalism, planned or abrupt, are instantaneously reported for immediate action. according to sharma and bausma (2009), these smps minimise incidents of theft on construction job sites. it would be therefore prudent for contractors to adopt these practices if their effectiveness is anything to consider. table 5: sometimes used smps security management practices (smps) n mean sd rank category using locking points to immobilise plant when not in use 40 2.93 1.38 24 sometimes used security planning and design 40 2.90 1.37 25 strategic parking for large equipment 40 2.83 1.56 26 engraving the equipment with serial numbers 40 2.78 1.40 27 use of lockable steel vaults for storing tools and small equipment 40 2.70 1.34 28 encouraging employees to mark id numbers on tools 40 2.68 1.44 29 crime prevention coordinator 40 2.60 1.63 30 computer-based documentation of information onsite 40 2.62 1.52 31 use of full-height turnstile on entrances 40 2.54 1.35 32 use of workers badge or id 40 2.43 1.38 33 install tracking devices on the plant or equipment 40 2.38 1.41 34 pre-employment screening investigation to verify applicants’ criminal history 40 2.35 1.46 35 use of guard dogs after working hours 40 2.28 1.52 36 disabling machines with hidden ignition cut-out switch 40 2.18 1.22 37 establishing an employee hotline to report crime 40 2.05 1.30 38 w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 55 table 6 shows that 6 smps, representing 14%, fell within the “rarely used” category. they are least ranked, 39th to 44th, with mean scores ranging from 2.03 to 1.50. this finding is consistent with edike and babatunde's (2017) study, which discovered the least use of cctv and alarm systems (30th, 1.33) among contractors in nigeria. security cameras and alarm systems were also minimally ranked in a study of theft on construction job sites in the upper west region of ghana (ablordeppey et al., 2020). their unpopularity has been attributed to the high cost of procurement, installation and operation. their none deployment ought to be predominant among small and medium contractors and not among large contractors. here again, the domineering and adamantine effect of smps in the ‘always’ and ‘often’ used categories seem to be in manifestation. however, considering that none use of technical systems is a major cause of crime on job sites (berg and hinze, 2005) and that the security risk is high on large projects, deployment of technical systems as deterrence and detection security strategy needs to be encouraged among large contractors. the cost-benefit analysis for the deployment of these smps is sufficiently compelling for large contractors. the systems are reusable and may offer additional value, such as monitoring health and safety issues. table 6. rarely used smps security management practices (smps) n mean sd rank category use of police patrols 40 2.03 1.23 39 rarely used use of neighbourhood watch 40 2.00 1.30 40 fitting passive electronic tags or markers to plant 40 1.85 1.19 41 use alarm system to detect motion and send signals 40 1.53 1.11 42 use of electronic entrance system 40 1.50 1.26 43 use of cctv/security cameras 40 1.48 1.11 44 8. conclusion crime prevention has become a major concern in the construction industry due to theft and vandalism costs. this paper explored smps implemented by contractors in curbing theft and vandalism on construction job sites in the southern region of malawi. smps that were commonly implemented included 11 in the 'always used' and 12 in the 'often used' categories. the ubiquitous nature of smps in these two categories is attributed to the job sites' locations that demand the implementation of physical measures. other factors that influence these smps include compliance with legislative and administrative requirements and a strong synergism among the smps. it was expected that large contractors would implement the proven to be successful security measures to mitigate threats on their job sites. this would be due to the high value of construction assets found on such job sites. however, it was surprising to note that most smps used to prevent theft of plants and tools were categorised as 'sometimes used'. similarly, technical systems such as cctv and alarm systems, together with background checks on employees and establishing employee hotline, were among the least used smps. therefore, the absence of these smps is an indicator of how exposed job sites of large contractors are to theft and vandalism. this would also imply that cost is not the only most influencing factor in choosing security measures for contractors. if that were the case, the implementation of the technical systems would have been high among the large contractors probed in this study, whose financial capacity is an enabler to investment in such systems. instead, other compelling factors such as legislative and administrative requirements play a role. together, contractors should prioritise the implementation of smps in the 'always used' category while the deployment of smps in another category should be in tandem with the overall security assessment of the construction job site. for example, smps, in the "often used" category should be employed to supplement inadequacies created by "always used" smps, while smps in the "sometimes used" category should be employed to deter theft of tools and plants. smps in the "rarely used" categories are the most effective anti-theft and anti-vandalism smps. large contractors should therefore reconsider investing in technical systems. the findings contribute to the wider construction project management discourse where issues of theft and vandalism are paramount. the results provide empirical evidence on smps that need improvement to prevent theft and vandalism on job sites. further, the study contributes to the theft and vandalism phenomenon by suggesting that implementing smps belonging to a particular category only may not necessarily result in improved security on construction job sites. implementation of a combination of smps based on security risk assessment may be necessary to achieve a desired level of security. however, though adequate, the study is limited by a relatively smaller sample size which may compromise the generalizability of the results. therefore, this study might have offered a generic analysis on which future research studies covering wide geospatial areas may be based. future research may also consider conducting discriminant analysis of the results using anova or ttest to investigate if the implementation of smps varies with business characteristics. 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(2021). evaluating the critical success criteria for prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction projects. journal of financial management of property and construction, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print. retrieved from https://doi-org.gcu.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/jfmpc03-2020-0013. appendix 1: proposed construction jobsite security management strategies security management practices (smps) sources all construction materials, tools and plants on site are inventoried farinloye et al., 2013: 14; fadiya et al., 2012: 49; berg and hinze, 2005: 828; big box. 2018: 1; boba & santos, 2006: 22-33; bsia, 2012: 16-20; edike and babatunde, 2017: 38-43). termination of employees caught stealing or committing vandalism. report theft and vandalism to the law enforcement agency minimising the number of entrances use of own-trained security personnel use of perimeter fences without barbed wire assigned personnel with the responsibility of maintaining tight inventory use of site cabins or containers for storing tools use of padlocks and locked gates removal of unused equipment from site the plant is covered with corporate logo or colours. station uniformed guards at entrance gates use of protectors for vulnerable doors and windows display of " no trespassing " signs delaying delivery and installation of white goods use of perimeter fence with barbed wire providing contact information for a responsible person during non-working hours recording of vehicle identification number (vin) or a product identification number (pin) secure small mobile equipment with padlocks, chains, hitches, wheel clamps just-in-time delivery of materials and tools use locks on oil and gas tanks conduct staff security awareness training tools such as hammers, shovels are marked with an indelible identification mark. using locking points to immobilise plant when not in use security planning and design strategic parking for large equipment engraving the equipment with serial numbers use of lockable steel vaults for storing tools and small equipment encouraging employees to mark id numbers on tools crime prevention coordinator computer-based documentation of information onsite use of full-height turnstile on entrances use of workers badge or id install tracking devices on the plant or equipment pre-employment screening to verify applicant’s criminal history use of guard dogs after working hours disabling machines with hidden ignition cut-out switch establishing an employee hotline to report crime use of police patrols use of neighbourhood watch fitting passive electronic tags or markers to plant use an alarm system to detect motion and send signals. use of electronic entrance system use of cctv/security cameras appendix 2: age of contractors https://www-emerald-com.gcu.idm.oclc.org/insight/search?q=ibrahim%20yahaya%20wuni https://www-emerald-com.gcu.idm.oclc.org/insight/search?q=geoffrey%20qiping%20shen https://www-emerald-com.gcu.idm.oclc.org/insight/search?q=robert%20osei-kyei https://www-emerald-com.gcu.idm.oclc.org/insight/publication/issn/1366-4387 https://www-emerald-com.gcu.idm.oclc.org/insight/publication/issn/1366-4387 https://doi-org.gcu.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/jfmpc-03-2020-0013 https://doi-org.gcu.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/jfmpc-03-2020-0013 58 w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 appendix 3: business financial class of registration appendix 4: implementation of smps by contractors security management practices (smps) n mean sd rank category all construction materials, tools and plants on site are inventoried 40 4.55 0.71 1 always used termination of employees caught stealing or committing vandalism 40 4.48 0.99 2 report theft and vandalism to the law enforcement agency 40 4.45 0.99 3 minimising the number of entrances 40 4.38 0.93 4 use of own-trained security personnel 40 4.28 1.20 5 use of perimeter fences without barbed wire 40 4.28 1.41 6 assigned personnel with the responsibility of maintaining tight inventory 40 4.23 1.21 7 use of site cabins or containers for storing tools 40 4.23 1.21 8 use of padlocks and locked gates 40 4.20 1.24 9 removal of unused equipment from site 40 4.13 1.07 10 the plant is embroiled with corporate logo or colours 40 4.05 1.24 11 station uniformed guards at entrance gates 40 3.93 1.49 12 often used use of protectors for vulnerable doors and windows 40 3.63 1.31 13 display of " no trespassing " signs 40 3.63 1.51 14 delaying delivery and installation of white goods 40 3.53 1.28 15 use of perimeter fence with barbed wire 40 3.45 1.55 16 providing contact information for a responsible person during nonworking hours 40 3.43 1.17 17 recording of vehicle identification number (vin) or a product identification number (pin) 40 3.43 1.78 18 secure small mobile equipment with padlocks, chains, hitches, wheel clamps 40 3.43 1.14 19 just-in-time delivery of materials and tools 40 3.38 1.51 20 use locks on oil and gas tanks 40 3.38 1.66 21 conduct staff security awareness training 40 3.13 1.59 22 tools such as hammers, shovels are marked with an indelible identification mark 40 3.05 1.50 23 using locking points to immobilise plant when not in use 40 2.93 1.38 24 sometimes used security planning and design 40 2.90 1.37 25 strategic parking for large equipment 40 2.83 1.56 26 engraving the equipment with serial numbers 40 2.78 1.40 27 use of lockable steel vaults for storing tools and small equipment 40 2.70 1.34 28 encouraging employees to mark id numbers on tools 40 2.68 1.44 29 crime prevention coordinator 40 2.60 1.63 30 computer-based documentation of information onsite 40 2.62 1.52 31 use of full-height turnstile on entrances 40 2.54 1.35 32 use of workers badge or id 40 2.43 1.38 33 2.6 35.9 61.5 0 20 40 60 80 1-5 6-10 ˃ 11 p e r c e n ta g e years 20% 25% 60% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% class 6 class 7 class 8 p e r c e n ta g e w. simukonda and n. kamwela /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).47-59 59 install tracking devices on the plant or equipment 40 2.38 1.41 34 pre-employment screening investigation to verify applicant’s criminal history 40 2.35 1.46 35 use of guard dogs after working hours 40 2.28 1.52 36 disabling machines with hidden ignition cut-out switch 40 2.18 1.22 37 establishing an employee hotline to report crime 40 2.05 1.30 38 use of police patrols 40 2.03 1.23 39 rarely used use of neighbourhood watch 40 2.00 1.30 40 fitting passive electronic tags or markers to plant 40 1.85 1.19 41 use alarm system to detect motion and send signals 40 1.53 1.11 42 use of electronic entrance system 40 1.50 1.26 43 use of cctv/security cameras 40 1.48 1.11 44 1253-tiew_et_al.no.3 jcbm (2022) 5(2). 29-43 performance barriers affecting graduate architects in architectural firms: a systematic literature review 1s. y. tiew, 2h. a. hashim and 3u. k. b. zolkafi 1, 2 & 3faculty of the built environment, universiti malaya, kuala lumpur, malaysia. received 14 august 2022; received in revised form 30 october 2022 and 05 december 2022; accepted 05 december 2022 https://doi.org/10.1564/jcbm.5.2.1253 abstract graduate architects assist architects in carrying out stage one work (design), stage two work (working drawings) and stage three work (site supervision) in architectural firms. graduate architects hold a master's degree in architecture and are yet to pass their professional examination. the capability of a graduate architect when assisting an architect in managing a project is critical in reducing performance barriers. this research aims to identify the most critical performance barriers that graduate architects face during project implementation. this paper examines the performance barriers that are faced by graduate architects and is a timely study as the increasing population and building construction developments will provide ample opportunities for them to perform better. a systematic literature review of credible sources from different databases, examining key issues related to performance barriers, has been carried out based on bibliographical variables and conceptual categories. accordingly, a data set of fifty articles and five selected case studies were analysed using thematic analysis. the five most crucial performance barriers identified are external environment factors, poor project documentation management skills, lack of soft skills, inadequate quality assessment management skills, and a shortfall in design management skills. the study's outcome is expected to equip the graduate architects to devise proactive risk mitigation measures that will reduce the impact of these barriers and improve project delivery. keywords: architectural firms, graduate architect, management skills, performance barriers. 1. introduction an architect is a qualified professional who translates building requirements into practical reality. they act as an agent, advisor, or contract administrator for building projects (ostime, 2019). when an architect starts on a project, they work on three key steps: define, design and refine (riba, 2020). the architect is responsible for defining the program after understanding the owner’s written narrative statement of needs (ostime, 2019). this statement is the project brief where the client explains their needs, budget, and requirements to the architect. the second step is the schematic and preliminary design in architectural agreements (riba, 2020). the schematic design, in the form of a bubble diagram, shows the flow of spaces to give an overall view of the concept design and is expanded to include alternative exterior elevations. the design phase represents the required period to take the design and refine the details of appearance, 1 corresponding author email address: yo_tiew@yahoo.com structure, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and to select the finishes (riba, 2020). this is where the coordination with the various consultants takes placeto avoid any clashing of mechanical, electrical and plumbing (mep) services with the building design. building information modelling (bim) is a medium utilised to detect 'clashing' in the building design. the final phase is where the work produced during the earlier designing and refining phases has been developed to such an extent that a contractor can build from the results (riba, 2020), whereby the architect translates the conceptual design into a buildable design through construction drawings. accordingly, the architect will assume the duty as the contract administrator when the contractor is mobilised to the site and commences the construction. as defined by riba, the graduate architect refers to a person yet qualified to be named an architect, albeit providing design or management services in the university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 30 architectural consultancy practice (demkin, 2001). they act as an assistant to the architect, carrying out tasks such as the submission of drawings, arranging and preparation of schematic design drawings, tender, construction, and contract drawings, coordinating with consultants and surveyors, chairing meetings, conducting site walks, handling discussion with the supplier and contractors (ostime, 2019). besides being an assistant, the graduate architect mainly administers the building contract on behalf of the architect during its construction (chappell & dunn, 2015). the graduate architects are expected to perform during their practicein line with the view that they undergo two types of training during their architectural education: architectural training and the practical training system (gundes & atakul, 2017). this practical training emerges as an important opportunity to gain real-world experience in higher education and to bridge the gap between the passive learning environment in academia and the changing demands of the workplace. there are two types of practical training; the first includes work practice in a typical architectural design office, and the second is the construction site internship, where the intern is required to monitor and actively participate in the execution of works (gundes & atakul, 2017). the significant contribution of this program is for the architecture students to acquire soft skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication, and problemsolving skills, which in their recruitment of graduates the employer values more than specialist subject knowledge. the program also improves the graduate architects' construction employability skills, enabling them to better fit in the working environment (gundes & atakul, 2017). khodeir’s (2020) research has however highlighted that employers have often given negative criticism regarding the graduates' attributes at the early stage of their careers. architectural firms are dissatisfied with the quality of the graduates and have noted that they have to re-train fresh graduates to make them fit for their jobs before starting their practice (laila mohamed khodeir & nessim, 2020). the best opportunity for practical training of students before they graduate is during six months of industrial training in architectural firms. this means that architectural firms are partly responsible if there is any gross inadequacy during practical training. there is a significant gap between education and practice that is faced by architecture students (khodeir, 2018). the graduate architects' knowledge from education is insufficient to cope with the career's requirements. thereby, some graduate architects spent more time exploring, through trial and error in administering building contracts to acquire the necessary skills and experience because of insufficient exposure or lack of guidance while at work (açici, ertaş, aras, & özdemir, 2014; hai, 2010). previous literature indicated that a graduate architect failed to perform due to the inability to acclimatise to the working environment (szumlic, 2017). the conditions, scenarios, and case studies described in education are far more idealistic than the real world. hence, the transition from the safety of an academic environment to that of independent practice turns into a frightening experience, described as 'reality shock' in literature (serafin, danilewicz, chyla, & czarkowska-pączek, 2020). the graduate architects are confused in this new environment where they are unsure of how to utilise the knowledge they have obtained from education in practice. this was proven by alharbi, emmitt and demian (2015), who stated that education focused on creating a knowledge base but not on bringing such knowledge into practice. the graduate architects faced various performance barriers when managing a construction project. therefore, it is crucial to identify the barriers that hinder the performance of graduate architects so that they can resolve them accordingly and perform more effectively in administrating building contracts. 2. research methodology this research adopted a systematic literature review to summarise the available evidence with little or no bias. a systematic literature review is a well-planned review to answer specific research questions using an organised and explicit methodology to identify, select, and critically evaluate the results of the studies, including the literature review (rother, 2007). the adopted review process for this study is based on the recommended rother et al. (2007) and is summarised in the study eligibility flow chart in figure 1. 2.1 review question(s) the research investigates the types of performance barriers faced by graduate architects when managing a building contract. the review questions are as follows: 1) what barriers hinder the graduate architects' performance when managing a building project? 2) what are the mitigation measures that enable them to perform while administering the building contract? 2.2 inclusion and exclusion criteria the inclusion criteria were defined as follows: 1. all articles related to the graduate architects' current practice in the construction industry and the barriers. 2. all available journals, conference papers, or theses related to the performance barriers in managing the construction project during the contract implementation and management phase. the list was refined by establishing four selection criteria for exclusion: 1. the research was focused on the mitigation measures only. 2. literature was written in a language other than english 3. research on the perceived barriers by other nonconstruction professions was disregarded. 4. studies of performance barriers in other phases, excluding the construction phase. 2.3 search strategy the initial step was to identify the relevant literature through searches of several databases (isi web of tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 31 science, scopus, and google scholar), combining the following series of keywords and search terms: ‘graduate architect’, ‘construction industry’, ‘contract administrator’, ‘building contract’, ‘performance barrier’ and ‘architects’. publications in the reference lists of the initial database supplemented this literature. 2.4 screening the screening process includes the following: 1. the result obtained from the database search were listed based on relevance. 2. each article’s title and abstract were checked to determine their relevance. 3. relevant articles were saved to a specific folder using a reference management program (endnote). 4. the total number of relevant articles and types was recorded. 2.5 results of the search the search results were presented in the ‘findings’ section. 2.6 data extraction the data extracted from multiple research articles require organisation into themes and categories by the author to be understood. the content is coded based on different themes and is organised based on descriptive metrics for each reported case of performance barrier. 2.7 quality/rigour evaluation the sources of articles that have been collected include books, book sections, conference papers, journal articles, and theses that suggest the different levels of rigour which influence the findings. hence, they are all taken into consideration for this study. 2.8 synthesis the content of each article was read, analysed and coded to a theme or subtheme relevant to the research. 2.9 reporting findings the findings of the systematic review are reported below. 2.10 case studies case study research is a fundamental research methodology for applied disciplines, contributing to understanding real-world phenomena. it allows the researcher to explore individuals or organisations simply through complex interventions, relationships, communities or programs and supports the deconstruction and the subsequent reconstruction of various phenomena. a case study is used to illustrate and assess how the proposal meets the aims of creating purposeful mitigation measures and meeting the profession's demands in a supportive environment that fostered development. details of the case studies are described in table 1. the case studies were selected based on the following criteria: 1. suite apartments or service apartments that are under the residential category. 2. strata housing– high-rise buildings due to strata housing projects are long-term transactions with high uncertainty and complexity. 3. a project is under the contract implementation and management phase because this is the construction process where the architect's blueprint will be converted into reality. 4. private development uses the pam contract, whereby the superintendent officer will be the architect with a contract duration ranging from 30-36 months. 5. the architect had been appointed as the building contract administrator. five ongoing housing projects that met the above criteria were selected for this study. 3 findings 3.1 search results the following tables sum up the databases included in this literature study: results from the database search stated in table 2, the number of selected articles sorted by year of publication indicated in table 3, and the main sources of articles shown in table 4. 3.2 documentation analysis construction documents such as progress reports, request for information, and correspondence between consultants and contractors are a type of archival material that provides two sorts of informationobservations of the obstacles faced during the construction stage and the possible mitigation measures. the contract documents from the case studies shown in table 5 were collected, thoroughly studied, and analysed to investigate the themes which can be classified and matched to the survey data collected. from the analysis, the types of barriers can be categorised into technical information, social and legal aspects, as shown in table 6. 3.3 graduate architects in contract management and implementation phase graduate architects have been found to be active in managing building contracts ever since they were permitted to do so under by-law 5 in the uniform building by-law (ubbl, 2013). however, due to inexperience and a lack of skills, e.g. negligence in supervision, insufficient tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 32 figure 1: study eligibility flow chart table 1: case studies selection name of project location of project size of project project a kuala lumpur three blocks 33 floors apartments project b kuala lumpur two blocks, 23 floors of apartments project c kuala lumpur one block 31 beds affordable apartment project d kuala lumpur two blocks 42 floors service apartments project e kuala lumpur two blocks, 32-45 floors service apartments table 2: result from database searches number of articles web of science scopus google scholar deemed relevant 65 56 79 table 3: number of articles by year of publication year articles before 2000 5 2001 – 2010 14 2011 2016 17 2017 4 2018 1 2019 3 2020 1 2021 5 tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 33 table 4: source of articles source no. of articles conference proceedings paper 7 book 8 theses 4 journals procedia social and behavioural science 2 journal of construction, engineering management 3 engineering, construction and architecture management 2 journal of project management 1 civil engineering & environmental 1 transaction of engineering management 1 international journal of sustainable construction engineering and technology 1 journal of education and arts 1 journal of performance constructed facilities 1 interdisciplinary journal 1 journal of built environment 2 journal of construction in developing countries 1 journal of research in engineering 1 journal for theory & practice of socio-economic development 1 journal of construction project management 1 international journal of project management 1 journal of management in engineering 1 international journal of applied engineering research 1 international journal of innovation & technology management 1 procedia engineering 1 frontiers of architectural research 1 alexandria engineering journal 1 journal of legal affairs & dispute resolution in engineering & construction 1 emerging science journal 3 table 5: details of the selected housing projects for case studies project a project b project c project d project e no. of blocks 3 2 1 2 2 no. of storey 33 23 35 34 32-45 types of building residential service apartment residential service apartment service apartment gross floor area (sq ft) 2,280,635 485,199 450,286 692,205 830,090 no. of unit 2000 429 515 584 705 location mukim setapak mukim kuala lumpur mukim setapak mukim batu, kl mukim batu, kl month of construction 36 months 72 months 25 months 72 months 30 months contract period / completion date 15 august 2017 – 14 august 2020 15 august 2016 – 15 february 2021 8 june 2018 – 8 july 2020 1 november 2014 – 31 july 2021 3 august 2020 – 5 june 2023 construction cost 300,000,000 confidential 80,800,000 638,000,000 161,000,000 building layout l shaped cluster form linear linear linear current status completed completed completed completed under construction documentation of the designer's work, failure to comply with the authority requirement, unclear detailed results, contradictory information, unbuildable details, uncoordinated systems and coordination errors, the graduate architects perform poorly in management, which led to chaos in the construction projects (mohamed, ridwan, saoula, & issa, 2019). professionals who the board of architects represents regularly critique the incomplete education of the students they employ after graduation. notably, the graduates' deficiencies are viewed to be related to their insufficient skills, which they also fail to reflect upon during their office work (szumlic, 2017). as duffy and bowe (2010) claim, older architects sometimes lament what they see as a decline in technical skills among their younger tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 34 colleagues. also, schools of architecture report failure by their graduates to meet employers' expectations (tzonis, 2014). many have enumerated that the missing skill is the notoriously exhibited incapacity to communicate effectively with professionals at building sites while supervising activities on behalf of the architecture office. in addition, poor technical knowledge and the misunderstanding in professional communication with construction management and the project team retard the construction progress (celadyn, 2020). 4. discussion of findings numerous barriers were common to graduate architects, including the points shown in table 7. 4.1 poor project documentation management skill the most crucial performance barriers identified from the literature and case studies are 'poor project documentation management skill'. this theme comprises five barriers: ' pb7-inexperienced', 'pb21-lack guidance proper documentation', 'pb25-conventional management protocol', 'pb28-ineffective management', and 'pb36incomplete documentation during award'. proper documentation of a construction project includes generating sufficient records to affect the history of the construction process. documentation of an event should consist of "what happened, when it happened, how it happened, when it was discovered, whose responsibility, who was notified, to whom and when was notification is given, what was the impact of the event, what immediate action is required, what longer-term action is required and which party will be responsible for resolving the problem" (gallo, lucas, mclennan, parminter, & tilley, 2002). the significant impacts of proper documentation are to have a future case study for problem reference; to date ease for tracking of job history; a reduced possibility of future misunderstandings, disagreements, or disputes by committing important events into writing; to possess supportive documents if mediation, arbitration or litigation is pursued (senaratne & mayuran, 2015). arbitrators gave the example of problems they encountered the mostconcerning documentation, where one party failed to provide documentary evidence, which in their opinion, could have altered the outcome of the case (kangari, 1995). the party with the most comprehensive and detailed records will have the decided advantage in any dispute resolution proceeding (arditi & robinson, 1995). inadequate and deficient design and documentation directly impact the construction process's smoothness (aiyetan, 2013). correspondingly, tilley et al. (2002) have identified that the lack of briefing by the client and the graduate architects who furnish preliminary detail design has caused constructability problems for the contractor. they have also identified information deficiencies and poor coordination between the design disciplines as the main issues affecting the project documentation. according to love et al. (1997), rework and non-conformance costs are due to the lack of design and documentation to transfer information during the design process. the study from defraites (1989) has stated another point of view, where a decline in the design fee levels and the reduction in the amount of time for design, especially a complex construction project, have contributed as factors to poor design and documentation performance (trach, pawluk, & lendo-siwicka, 2019). a preliminary design violates the quality of documentation (laila mohamed khodeir & nessim, 2020; love & edwards, 2004). the situation becomes worse with the appointment of inexperienced staff who lack technical knowledge, which could lead to errors and omissions in the contract documentation (love & edwards, 2004). the most frequent causes of severe deviations during design were poor planning or resource allocation and deficient or missing input and changes (gallo et al., 2002; jaffar, tharim, & shuib, 2011). to resolve this issue, proper documentation involves and requires the creation of sufficient records to affect the history of the construction process (fawzy & el-adaway, 2012; levy, 2018). proper documentation means important events are accurately and promptly recorded. the prompt receipt, review, transmission, distribution and tracking of the documents are critical elements of project administration (rochegova & barchugova, 2016). documentation of this process must be complete, accurate, and timely. for example, shop drawing submission, request for information (rfi), material or sample or the method of the submission of the statement should be recorded in the list of submissions, which consists of the tracking number, date as to when the request was created, date sent to the architect, date when a response is required, a brief description of the question and the answer from the consultants, (oke, bhekisia, & aigbavboa, 2016; heerkens, 2002). a regular review of an outstanding contractor's submission should occur during the site meeting, where the status should be documented accordingly (agbaxode, dlamini, & saghatforoush, 2021; oke et al., 2016). close monitoring of the rfi status is required as it will affect either the cost or time, which will generate table 6: identified graduate architects’ performance barriers through literature no. performance barriers no. of studies 1 external environment factors 8 2 poor project documentation management skill 16 3 lack of soft skill 9 4 inadequate quality assessment management skill 11 5 the shortfall in design management skill 11 tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 35 table 7: performance barriers faced by graduate architects identified from the case studies code performance barriers summarised from case studies p ro je ct a p ro je ct b p ro je ct c p ro je ct d p ro je ct e code performance barriers summarised from case studies p ro je ct a p ro je ct b p ro je ct c p ro je ct d p ro je ct e pb1 miscommunication * * pb22 insufficient design details * * pb2 slow decision * * pb23 design & detail error * * pb3 lack coordination * * pb24 lack of info in drawings * * pb4 delay reply queries * * * pb25 conventional management protocol * * * * * pb5 poor contract management knowledge * * * pb26 impractical design * * pb6 lack information * * pb27 incomplete design info * * pb7 inexperienced * * * * pb28 ineffective management * * pb8 construction complexities * * pb29 poor design management * * pb9 design degrade * * pb30 error during design * * pb10 discrepancy contact form * * * pb31 complex details * * pb11 searching for alternative building material * * * pb32 non-compliance to specification * * * pb12 inadequate site inspection * * * pb33 lack of understanding of clients' requirement * * pb13 confirming alternative materials * * * pb34 design changes * * pb14 alternative design proposal * * * pb35 poor info use * * pb15 unaware legal policy * * * pb36 incomplete documentation during the award * * * pb16 unclear building contract * * * pb37 poor site supervision & inspection * pb17 inappropriate performance measurement * * * pb38 uncertainty advising other stakeholders * * pb18 poor specification * * pb39 attending to client-driven design changes * * pb19 non-integrated project delivery * * * pb40 low priority to quality performance measure * * * pb20 keep track of inspection. * * * pb21 lack of guidance and proper documentation * * * a variation in the order proposal. if the contractor proposes a construction detail or the graduate architect requests a change during the site visit, this should be documented in the revised construction drawings (rochegova & barchugova, 2016). an email requesting an inspection is a verification that the inspection has been conducted, and a report of the results of the inspection should be documented (levy, 2018; stanton, 1990). all cost estimates for extra work must be confirmed in writing to avoid misunderstanding the amount of the quotation or the scope of work involved (rochegova & barchugova, 2016). all variation orders should be numbered sequentially for ease of identification, tracking, and so forth (heerkens, 2002). 4.2 inadequate quality assessment management skill the second crucial barrier identified through this study is inadequate quality assessment skills. in this category, there are barriers such as 'pb4-delay reply queries', 'pb13delay confirm alternative material', 'pb14-unsure alternative material proposal', 'pb17-inappropriate tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 36 performance measurement', 'pb19-none integrated project delivery', 'pb20-keep track of inspection', 'pb37poor site supervision and inspection', and 'pb40-low priority to quality performance', 'pb11-searching alternative building material' and 'pb32-non-compliance to specification', as well as 'pb12-inadequate site inspection'. several factors hamper the construction quality of buildings; these include the fact that the site management has not been allocated sufficient time for quality management, which the consultants provide. consequently, time limitation has restricted the contractor's ability to achieve quality; among the project stakeholders, a low priority is given to quality performance measures, and the scarce involvement of the architect in the project has also hindered quality achievements (asadi, wilkinson, & rotimi, 2021; tilley, 2005). incidents of a graduate architect who seldom carried out a site visit and was unsure what item to inspect during an inspection had caused design detail to be overlooked, which ended with a variation order with additional cost (weinberger, 2005). some architects don't have a clear idea of what to expect or look for when they go on-site inspection (mohammadi, 2021). nevertheless, the unfamiliarity of design detail by the graduate architect will cause the contractors to make their own decision, which is to use the most straightforward method and the shortest time to resolve a design problem, whereby the majority will sacrifice aesthetics and functionality (nicol & pilling, 2000; rounce, 1998). hence, basic knowledge of the construction method and material specification is important for the graduate architect (tzonis, 2014). problems arise when there are unclear technical requirements of the materials, construction techniques during quality control (pooworakulchai, kongsong, & kongbenjapuch, 2017), and no proper guidelines on the workmanship quality (love & edwards, 2004). graduate architects face difficulties inspecting workmanship quality due to the lack of detailed guidelines for reference (mahdavinejad, ghasempourabadi, ghaedi, & nikhoosh, 2012). to improve quality management, additional drawings and details may be issued from time to time during the contract (heerkens, 2002). the graduate architect should give greater attention to the following quality management practices: the requirements of the clients and end-users, producing correct and complete drawings and specifications, coordinating and checking contract documentation, conducting design verification, controlling changes, and committed to providing quality service (levy, 2018; mahdavinejad et al., 2012). the modification of the design, quality or quantity of the works, the correction of discrepancies between the contract documents, the removal of materials from the site, the opening up of covering work, the condemnation, replacement and remediation of defective work, the postponement of work, the dismissal of incompetent or misconducting personnel, and any other matters that are related to the contract shall be formalised with an instruction (agbaxode et al., 2021). moreover, an intensive review of plans and specifications is a must between the consultants to counter-check discrepancies and for practicality (heerkens, 2002). all parties must thoroughly examine the documents to uncover problems at the early stage, which reduces the impact and associated costs (tilley, 2005). conducting a regular site inspection is necessary to discover poor workmanship. site inspection allows the detection and rectification of defects and non-compliance work in an early stage (pressman, 2006). visits may be at regular intervals, programmed to coincide with particular events on-site, or unannounced spot checks (weinberger, 2005). according to ling (2004), a site inspection checklist developed for all architectural components will ease supervision and monitoring. prompt notification to the contractor of acceptable work, materials, or equipment will improve the workmanship quality on site (ling, 2004). sample panels and mock-ups will be required to be submitted to the graduate architects for study and to change complicated details before production work begins so as not to impede the progress (heerkens, 2002). 4.3 shortfall in design management skills the third significant barriers that are measured within the literature that constitute design management include ‘pb2-slow decision’, ‘pb18-poor specification’, ‘pb22insufficient design detail’, ‘pb29-poor design management’, ‘pb31-unworkable detail’, ‘pb34-constant design changes’, ‘pb39attending to employer drive design changes’, ‘pb23-design and detail error’, ‘pb8 construction complexities’, ‘pb26-impractical design’, and ‘pb30-error design drawing’. many quality and efficiency problems have been experienced during the design process due to inadequate design management (wang, tang, qi, shen, & huang, 2016). according to tzortzopoulos and formoso (1999), poor design management contributes to poor design process performance, with the following being the main problems: poor communication, unbalanced resource allocation, lack of adequate documentation, lack of coordination between disciplines, deficient or missing input information, erratic decision making (lopez, love, edwards, & davis, 2010; tilley, 2005). from a construction perspective, design is a complex process (enshassi, sundermeier, & zeiter, 2017; tilley, 2005). graduate architects spend inadequate or inappropriate effort planning and controlling the design process (tilley, 2005). subsequently, the design team lacks a common direction; thus, information cannot flow efficiently between the parties to resolve design problems (levy, 2018). levy (2018) stated that incidents of delays in completing design tasks or missing information in design documents appeared when graduate architects failed to plan the information flow concerning the various tasks. the architect should be able to step in and advise accordingly when a defective design causes variation (warnock, 2019). there are circumstances where the contractor has highlighted unworkable design yet has obtained further input on the next course of action from the architect (jaffar et al., 2011). this case occurs when there is a poor design or an incomplete design by the project's designer, poor management expertise, various technological and social issues, site-related problems, and tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 37 the application of improper tools and techniques (gunduz & elsherbeny, 2020). the scarcity of professional construction knowledge or relevant professional foundations had rendered the graduate architect who ran the building contract unsuitable in making the appropriate resolutions (pooworakulchai et al., 2017) and had caused lots of trials and errors at the site, which subsequently delayed the entire work progress. in this regard, the graduate architect should focus on four factorsplanning and executing, resolving disputes, optimising design and promoting techniques (wang et al., 2016). this factor indicates the need to understand and commit to the client's interest. a feasible design plan should be prepared to meet the client's requirements (wang et al., 2016). clients should freeze the project's scope as early as possible to minimise the risk of cost and an increase in the schedule (heerkens, 2002). while executing the design plan, adequate resource input is necessary to achieve the required design quality and time schedule (levy, 2018). resolving disputes is a type of design-related claim management whereby the client raises additional requirements during the construction, and the variations are not adequately recorded. (wang et al., 2016). the graduate architect should appropriately deal with designrelated claims with the support of well-managed design documents (arditi & robinson, 1995). the third factor, optimising design, is related to the cost of design options (rounce, 1998). this primarily relies on design change management through approaches such as value engineering (wang et al., 2016). constructability and value engineering (ve) exercises should be undertaken after the baseline scope has been developed (rounce, 1998). ve study should be undertaken with the entire project team, including the contractors and relevant subcontractors, to improve project constructability and reduce the potential of change at a later stage (douglas iii, 2003). the fourth factor is promoting techniques, which comprises advanced technologies in design changes for cost reduction (wang et al., 2016). the graduate architects may utilise bim to improve coordination among the project stakeholders since using general and conventional two-dimensional cad drawings does not support a truly collaborative approach (arayici et al., 2011). these drawings are not integrated and usually pose a clash of information. building information modeling (bim) is a set of interacting policies, processes and technologies generating a methodology to manage the essential building design and project data in digital format throughout the building’s life cycle (arayici et al., 2011). it assists the project stakeholders to visualise what is to be built in a virtual environment and to identify potential design, construction or operational clashes and problem, which invariably improves the quality of design, and construction and reduces rework. the graduate architect should manage the design team by providing them with an assessment of the design status and the potential for change. important changes should be reviewed and authorised through a systematic and structured scope. at the same time, the client should 'sign off' work as the design progresses and be alerted to the consequences associated with initiating a change (levy, 2018; nielsen, 2010). 4.4 lack of soft skill from the study, the lack of soft skills emerged as the fourth barrier to the graduate architect, according to previous studies. this theme consists of 'pb1miscommunication', 'pb6-lack information', 'pb3-lack coordination', 'pb9-design degrade', 'pb24-lack information on drawings', 'pb27-incomplete design information', 'pb33-lack understanding of the client requirement', 'pb35-poor information use', and ‘pb38uncertainty advise from other stake holders’. communication is one of the fundamental aspects of the construction industry and is the key to project success (sahlstedt, 2012; zerjav & ceric, 2009). communication covers all tasks related to producing, compiling, sending, storing, distributing and managing project records (oke et al., 2016; romano & nunamaker, 2001). it also includes an accurate report on project status, performance, change and earned value (emmitt & gorse, 2009; hayes & westrup, 2014). however, communication among project stakeholders is not always concise and effective, which is unsuccessful and has resulted in poor communication (hoezen, reymen, & dewulf, 2006). zerjav and ceric (2009) posit that most construction professionals know communication in construction projects is reasonably inefficient compared to other industries. factors of poor communication include the fear of communicating, delayed notification of the change, lack of sector experience, individual barriers, slow information flow among parties, the lack of an effective communication system and platform, lack of confidence, informality, improper communication channel, a lack of mutual trust among team members, poor communication management, inaccessibility of project information, incorrect delivery of instructions or technical information, the lack of communication procedure and training, poorly detailed drawings and complexities of the construction industry (gamil & rahman, 2017). most construction practitioners have policies relating to written communication, but guidelines for verbal communication are generally less regulated. poor communication and communication overload among the project stakeholders are shown to directly correlate with the project delivery outcomes, adverse events and undesirable additional costs or time (emmitt & gorse, 2006). to combat these, a practical guide to arm the graduate architect with effective tools is crucial to ensure a satisfactory exchange of information in the context of contract administration. accordingly, a structured approach to communication has significant advantages (dainty, moore, & murray, 2007). when confronting an issue, the graduate architect may use the approach of introduction, situation, background, assessment and recommendation (dainty et al., 2007). this tool can be useful for the graduate architect as a means of communicating with project stakeholders about the change in design or details and prompts them to state the current situation, give relevant background, state assessment or study findings and recommendations in any situation (anumba & evbuomwan, 1997). this means of tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 38 communication involves the usage of construction terms. there are a lot of circumstances where graduate architects cannot keep up with the conversation due to unfamiliarity with common building jargon (sak, 2021). hence, understanding construction terms or terminology is essential to enable them to navigate the construction industry and communicate without obstruction among the project members (sak, 2021). 4.5 external environmental factors according to the study, external environmental factors are an insignificant barrier to graduate architects. this theme comprised four types of obstacles: ' pb5-poor contract management knowledge', 'pb10-discrepancy of contract forms', 'pb15-unaware legal policy', and 'pb16-unclear building contract'. fraudulent certification has happened in the following scenarioswhen the contract administrator has signed a certificate which they did not prepare or supervise, has over-certified a housing project which is incomplete or prematurely certified vacant possession which is unfit for occupation or is without the supportive documents (abotaleb & el-adaway, 2017). incidents of wrongful certification have occurred due to the graduate architect being unaware of the architect's legal responsibilities and scope of duties (abidin, 2012). these incidents occurred due to an increase in building developments while there was a limited number of architects in the country. thus the architects were unable to commit hands-on to a lot of projects. therefore, they have to rely on the graduate architect to furnish site progress information and prepare the certificates. besides certification, it was found that the graduate architects also faced the problem of understanding a contract document (mohamed et al., 2019). this issue occurs when the contract documents are too thick and consist of many legal jargons and phrases that are irrelevant to the associated materials, the use of difficult languages, unclear specifications that are illogical in nature, being unfamiliar with the form of contract that is used, and requirements that are not clear and are too general, and so on (mohamad & madon, 2006; ndekugri & rycroft, 2014). this will lead to misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the facts in contract obligations that cause construction risks such as disputes, claims, litigation, shoddy works, and reworks (ajator, 2017; bell, 1958). the detrimental effects cause project delays, undermine team spirit, and increase project costs. therefore, it is necessary to understand the contents of the contract documents as this will significantly influence the smooth and good performance of the construction project. a proper understanding of the contents of the contract documents is essential to the enhancement of contractual relations and assurance of the intended deliverance of the product. the graduate architects must check on contract documents to see whether the content matches the contract drawings or specifications and an understanding of the sales and purchase agreement before the commencement of the administration work (bin zakaria, binti ismail, & binti yusof, 2013; kavanagh & miers, 2021; ostime, 2019). to improve the legal knowledge of the graduate architects, some suggestions have been made: the drawing must be clear and checked by all parties, clarity in the contract documents for better understanding, contract documents are to be written in simple language, contract documents must be precise, objective and practical, the regulatory requirement has to be clearly explained, bill of quantities are to be clearly and objectively detailed, minimise the use of complicated legal phrases, the general condition of the contract has to be made familiar (kasi, 1998; mohamad & madon, 2006). 5 conclusion graduate architects who take part in administering the building contract during the construction stage have increased in recent years as the rate of building construction and development in malaysia has grown tremendously. the graduate architect will be dominant in managing building contracts under construction if the architect has been given authorisation. the role of the contract administrator will drive the success of the project implementation. hence, the capability of a graduate architect as a contract administrator is critical in reducing the challenges encountered. accordingly, identifying these barriers is essential in sourcing mitigation measures as resolutions. this study aims to identify graduate architects' most crucial performance barriers to graduate architects in their career development in project management through a comprehensive perspective of the literature and case studies on the subject. correspondingly, a thematic analysis has been conducted through a literature search along with selected case studies. a group comprising five types of barriers has been identified and summarised in table 8. each barrier has been described in detail in appendix, and a specific list of references has been provided. to uncover the underlying barriers, five main groups of barriers are manifested, where the most crucial performance barrier that has been identified is the limitation in project documentation skills. the second critical performance barrier to graduate architects is the inadequate quality of assessment management skills, followed by a shortfall in design management skills. the fourth barrier that has been identified is the lack of soft skills. in contrast, external environment factors are an insignificant barrier to the graduate architect during the contract administration phase. this paper provides insights into the contemporary issues that are relevant to graduate architects' management of construction projects. the presented findings would assist the graduate architects in planning better, sensible, and efficient measures to ease a crisis. by taking care of these potential barriers in their present and future projects, graduate architects can reduce the additional cost and time implications and eventually increase the possibility of the project's success in the market. this review benefits the project delivery for the architecture practitioners and the construction team. by understanding the performance barriers faced by graduate architects, solutions can be sorted out. through timely tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 39 project delivery, the graduate architects will move a step closer to acquiring their professional qualifications and ease the tension among the construction team. limitations of this study are that although much effort has been employed to produce a comprehensive and exhaustive review, further studies are required on identifying knowledge, skills, roles, and responsibilities in construction projects for better professional practice development in building contract administration. table 8: tabulation of the types of barriers, root causes and solutions problem types of barriers root causes solutions graduate architects unable to perform during administrating building contract poor project documentation management skill a. information deficiencies and poor coordination b. incomplete design c. deficient planning or resource allocation a. creating sufficient records b. regular review of contractors’ submission c. all changes should be formalised with instructions/letters inadequate quality assessment management skill a. insufficient time for quality management b. insufficient information provided by consultants c. no proper guideline on workmanship quality d. unclear technical requirements of material, construction techniques during quality control e. unsure what item to inspect during the site walk f. unfamiliar design detail a. pay greater attention to clients’ requirement b. producing correct and complete drawings and specification c. conducting design verification d. controlling changes e. intensive review of drawings for counter checking f. conduct a regular site walk g. submission of mock-up sample the shortfall in design management skill a. unbalanced resource allocation b. lack of coordination between disciplines c. deficient or missing input information d. erratic decision making e. failing to plan information flow a. planning and executing b. resolving disputes c. optimising design d. adopts bim in design lack of soft skill a. fear to communicate b. delay notification of change c. lack of sector experience d. individual barrier e. slow information flow among parties f. lack confidence a. adopt a structured approach to communication b. understanding construction terms/terminology external environmental factors a. unaware of the architect’s legal responsibility and scope of duties b. difficult to understand contract document c. misinterpretation and misunderstanding of facts in contract obligations a. drawing must be clear and checked by all parties b. the clarity in contract documents/contract documents written in simple language c. the regulatory requirement to be clearly explained d. to ensure contract documents match with contract drawings and specifications declaration of interests the authors report that there are no competing interests to declare. tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 40 references abidin, a. z., 2012. liabilities of the contract administrator in certification. universiti teknologi malaysia, abotaleb, i. s. and el-adaway, i. h., 2017. administering employers’ payment obligations under national and international design–build standard forms of contract. journal of legal affairs and dispute resolution in engineering and construction, 9(2): 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(master thesis, victoria university of wellington). retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10063/8389 weinberger, a. j., 2005. construction-site inspection. nature, 433(7022): 114-115. zerjav, v. and ceric, a., 2009. structuring communication within construction projects—a communication breakdown structure. paper presented at the proceedings of the 25th annual conference, nottingham, uk. appendix definition of the performance barriers pb1miscommunication in terms of verbal/graphic pb2slow decision-making/weak design pb3lack of coordination between tasks when there is zero communication, and team players work in isolation pb4delay reply to contractor queries/submission due to lack of technical knowledge pb5poor contract management knowledge that unable to resolve the dispute between clients/consultants/ contractor pb6 lack of documents/info which obstructed construction work progress pb7 improper relevant training or is inexperienced when managing building contract pb8complexities in the construction process where the work sequence on-site is unclear and caused complications during construction pb9degrading design due to budget constraints and cost-saving purpose pb10discrepancy in contract forms when there is a discrepancy between drawings and bq pb11searching for alternative building materials when developers intend to save cost pb12inadequate examination of the site when site inspection is not carried out regularly pb13difficulty in the selection of alternative materials which match with the original design intended pb14design alteration proposed due to the client's requested pb15unaware of latest government policy/regulations as constantly changed and updated pb16unclear about building contract / unfamiliar with the clauses in the contract pb17inappropriate performance measurement where the architect is unable to assess the workmanship quality due to a lack of base standard pb18poor specification when detail provided is unworkable pb19non-integrated project delivery when the outcome of the end product is not similar to the original design pb20keep track of inspections/work done on-site to track construction progress pb21lack guidance on proper documentation and procedures when filing is not done properly and no record of correspondence pb22insufficient design details, e.g. missing drawing details, specifications pb23conventional management protocol stickiness of old methods / common practice pb24impractical design caused difficulties during implementation / over-design scaled model displayed pb25lack of information exchange platform/communication breakdown pb26unsure of alternative methods/material submitted by contractors pb27incomplete design information when some detail drawings or specifications are missing pb28ineffective management where everything decision based on protocol and inflexible during decision making pb29poor design management when the designer produced an unpractical design and the project team is yet to review it and advise accordingly pb30error during design, such as detail provided is not workable or impractical design pb31complex details where details were copied and pasted from a foreign designer, which is unworkable in the local context pb32non-compliance to specification when unfamiliar with the original design intended tiew et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 29-43 43 pb33lack of understanding of the client's requirement due to lack of experience and unfamiliarity with the current market's needs pb34design changes when architect failed to comply with authority requirement / as per client's request pb35poor info use when the correct information failed to convey to the right person pb36incomplete documentation during award when tender drawings and documents are prepared within a tight time frame pb37poor site supervision and inspection when an architect is unsure what to inspect during the site walk pb38uncertainty in advising other stakeholders when lacking knowledge and experience pb39attending to client-driven design changes when the architect is unable to make a firm decision and advise the client accordingly pb40low priority to quality performance measure due to budget constraints and no standard of workmanship being set jcbm (2018) 2(2). 1-14 examination of the levels of development of building information models in the nigerian construction industry o. olugboyega 1, and o. o. aina2 1.2 department of building, obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria received 21 june 2017; received in revised form 25 august 2017, 18 july 2018; accepted 20 july 2018 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.99 abstract bim can be used to illustrate the entire building lifecycle, from cradle to inception, design and demolition and materials reuse; quantities and properties of materials, which can be easily extracted from the model; and the scope of works, including management of project targets and facilities management throughout the building’s life. the implementation of bim in projects or organization is in phases and building information models can be developed as 2d, 3d, 4d, 5d and 6d bim depending on the stage of bim implementation and level of details required. this study examined the levels of details of building information models being generated by two hundred and eighty two construction professionals in lagos state, nigeria using respondents driven sampling technique. frequency distribution and percentage, clustered bar chart, mean ranking, kruskal wallis test and fisher exact test were used to analyse the data obtained from the respondents. the study found that the implementation of bim in the study area is for visualization purpose. the findings also revealed that the levels of generating 2d and 3d bim were very high in the study area; and that 3d architectural model, 3d architectural and structural model, and 3d architectural and building services model were the most developed variants of 3d bim. it was concluded that that the status of bim adoption in construction industry in lagos state, nigeria is at the visualization phase. keywords: bim details, bim, bim development, 4d bim, federated bim. 1. introduction building information modelling (bim) is an accurate parametric and 3d geometrical representation of a building or any structure digitally (bhargav, 2014). in bim, the three-dimensional (3d) model of a building can be combined with change management information to give a four-dimensional (4d), five-dimensional (5d) or six-dimensional (6d) model of the building. sebastian (2010) and simpson (2013) describe this practice as a process that gives meaning to the building information models through relationships. bim is regarded as the future and the solution to the construction industry’s problems (lu and li, 2011). bim as a process, is significantly altering the way that the construction industry creates and cares for its assets; mostly because it allows the identification and reduction 1 corresponding author. tel: +2348066704465 email address: oolugboyega@yahoo.com of errors and design conflicts before they actually happen as well as reduces process waste by eliminating rework (scott, chong and li, 2005). the body of knowledge has shown the extent of implementation and levels of development of building information models among construction professionals in the developed countries, for example, australian institute of architects (2014), bimforum (2015), ukbim alliance (2016), and uk national bim report (2017). in nigeria, a number of studies have recently been done on bim. ede (2014) reported a case study of usage of bim on a modest duplex building project in enugu. although, the study did not report the level of details of bim used for the project, but it reinforces the need to investigate other bim-based projects that have not been reported. dare-abel, igwe and charles (2014) studied the usage of software technologies by architectural firms in abuja, enugu, maiduguri, university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.99 mailto:oolugboyega@yahoo.com 2 o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 kaduna and lagos. the usage of software technologies among construction professionals is bound to vary and a study focused on only the architects cannot be said to have evaluated the usage of software technologies among the construction professionals. besides, knowledge on the building information models being generated from the software technologies is more important than the software technologies that they are using. a desktop study of the change process associated with bim implementation on projects as carried out by dim, ezeabasili and okoro (2015) reviewed literature on how the use of bim for projects will impact the design and construction process. in whatever way, these studies did not provide adequate insight on the level of development of building information models. the examination of the extent of bim-enabled collaboration improvement among aec consultants in nigeria, as conducted by onungwa and uduma-olugu (2017) did not consider the importance of contents of the federated building information models being generated by these consultants. the consideration of this would have provided information on the extent of collaboration and the details of the building information models being exchanged and integrated. collaboration among consultants is not a stand-alone issue; it is affected by the numbers of the consultants and the knowledge they are contributing. therefore, examining collaboration practices among the consultants is an unrepresentative way of examining the adoption of bim in a construction industry. sawhney (2014) affirmed that the usage of bim must be evaluated in order to provide the construction industry with timely and clear understanding of the status of bim adoption in comparison with global developments. as noted by jung and lee (2015), a study on the usage of bim should examine its level of implementation and details. moreover, the existing literature on the level of development of building information models globally cannot be said to have captured the level of development of building information models in nigeria; as the conditions in the nigerian construction industry are different due to geographic location, size and complexity of projects, and contractual arrangements. smith (2013) maintained that bim can be used to transform the construction industry into an efficient and value-oriented sector that can successfully deliver the clients’ requirements, and that, bim can transform the construction industry to a data-rich environment and knowledge-intensive industry which can enable virtual and automated design, analysis, construction and communication. however, these are untested assumptions. for a gainful deployment of bim in nigeria, it is therefore important to study the levels of development of building information models by construction professionals in nigeria. in order to understand the status of bim adoption in nigeria, this study examined the phase of bim implementation and extent of generating building information models by construction professionals in the construction industry in lagos state, nigeria. 2. literature review bim is the process of developing an intelligent building model which can be more easily modified, and which can accurately represent the final building product (computer integrated construction research group [cicrp], 2012). in bim, virtual designs are built in 3d before work proceeds on site; the attributes of all the elements of the building can be found in the model; and spatial ‘clashes’ can be identified and resolved in the model instead of on site (cpa, 2013). as observed by riba (2012) and sebastian (2010), bim is more than 3d, it could be 4d when time or work schedule information is added to the project model or 5d when cost or quantity schedule information is given in the model or 6d when facilities management information is added to the model. bim provides an integrated system that can be used to simulate the behaviour of buildings in a real-world system, provides information about quantities and properties of building elements, and documents design information in an integrated database (sabol (2008), ian and bob (2010) and royal institute of british architects [riba], 2012). additionally, bim can be used to illustrate the entire building lifecycle, from cradle to inception, design and demolition and materials reuse; quantities and properties of materials, which can be easily extracted from the model; and the scope of works, including management of project targets and facilities management throughout the building’s life (nbsbr, 2014). as noted by shelden (2009), bim is the most promising recent development in the construction industry and an important tool for the growth of the construction industry. similarly, newton and chileshe (2012) affirmed that bim is imperative to the efficiency and competitiveness of the construction industry. succar (2009) argued that bim can stimulate the process of information exchange and interoperability among project stakeholders. this supports the view of panuwatwanich, wong, doh, stewart and mccarthy (2013) that the need for bim stems from the lack of integration along the construction supply chain. also, bim guide (2013) asserted that bim would change the traditional process of working in the construction industry over a wide range of its typical characteristics, including those of people, processes, communication and work culture. the level of development of building information models can be classified as 2d, 3d, 4d, 5d and 6d bim depending on the level of details required and on the ability of the construction supply chain to operate and exchange information (engineering news record, 2014; sawhney, 2014; smith, 2014). the level of development of building information models is used to define the level of information required for modelling and maturity of the necessary it technology, supporting infrastructure, collaboration and integration required at each level of capacity and is expected to be used by the bim project strategy team to prioritise development of the bim infrastructure (riba, 2012; practical bim, 2012; bim guide, 2013; bolpagni, 2013; eadie et al., 2014; british standard institute [bsi], 2013; porwal and hewage, 2013; bim planning guide for facilities managers, 2012). a 2d bim is a conventional building model created using computer aided design (cad) software technologies where building geometry is represented by o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 3 lines between defined points. 2d based modelling evolved from pencils to ink, to overlay drafting, and to cad technologies. it does not provide visualization, thinking and documentation, but leaves building information to imaginations (arcadis, 2015). 2d bim is the starting point for bim implementation and it involves the use of cad software with 2d files to design and produce only traditional drawings. in 2d bim, information is often sent as portable document format (pdf) and files are printed off on paper (riba, 2012; bim guide, 2013; smith, 2014). according to eadie et al. (2014), oakley (2014) and bsi (2013), 2d bim is document oriented and involves drawings in 2d cad software technologies, calculation in excel and processing of information using microsoft word. the information from 2d bim can be described as ‘non-intelligent’ information as no digital objects are utilized and professionals only employ texts, lines and arcs to prepare and communicate data. however, the information models created by project participants at 2d bim require coordination in order to detect and correct information clash (building information council, 2014). cad software technologies employed in 2d bim merely automated the process of drawing, design and documenting building information; but cannot represent the relationships between building elements; for example, the architectural information model is represented by 2d geometry of a building via graphical elements such as lines, arcs and symbols (autodesk, 2002; ian and bob, 2010). 3d bim is an object oriented models of buildings where virtual abstract representations of real life known as objects are used to represent components such as doors, windows or columns. unlike 2d bim that uses a collection of lines to represent building components on a drawing, 3d bim gives a model consisting of virtual objects with a homogeneous geometrical description. it brings an immediate and understandable representation of the available design of a building and makes it easier to make changes in the design (engineering news record, 2014). where only the information about the geometry of a building is required, the model can be developed as a 3d model, and this type of federated building information models is known as 3d bim with visualization as the level of detail. examples of software technologies that can be used in generating 2d or 3d bim are ms project, ms outlook, orion, robot, magi cad, autocad architecture, autocad mep, autodesk revit, graphisoft archicad and bentley architecture (royal architectural institute of canada [raic], 2007; cicrp, 2011). 2d or 3d objects in 3d bim usually have geometric description to which intelligence can be linked to create a federated building information model. the coordination of disciple-specific information models is also required for 3d bim in order to avoid error and defective works (eadie et al., 2014; bsi, 2013; oakley, 2014). the increased usage of both 2d and 3d cad software technologies has been reported in a number of studies (smith, 2014; bim guide, 2013; ian and bob, 2010; building information council, 2014; and riba, 2012). for example, building information council (2014) reported that 3d bim primarily gives visualizations, concepts of designs and plans of project team members by creating geometry of buildings in support of visualization, realistic rendering and lighting effects. in 3d bim only one party, usually the architects and engineers, develop a 3d information model for the project and other project team members only employing cad software technology to develop building information without necessarily collaborating with one another. a level of collaboration could be done though to provide a common data environment for the project team by exchanging information models on compatible bim software platforms. other dimensions can be added to a 3d bim by way of increasing the database with other information, and where time is added as the fourth dimension, the model is known as 4d bim, 5d bim when cost analysis and management information are added and when maintenance information is added, the model becomes a 6d bim. although, other dimensions can be added to bim to generate ‘nd bim’ depending on the project requirements; but the major benefit of bim is achieved at 6d bim (also known as integrated bim [ibim]) because it supports collaborative use of project information, provides a single or master model and provides greater use for the information in the model (sabol, 2008; raic, 2007). the level of details in bim is very important to understand the construction process because elements in a 3d bim model have to be in accordance with the schedule. the fourth dimension is an extra feature that provides the model with more dynamism in terms of representing the behaviour of the building elements along time, extending in this way its usage for other purposes. a 4d bim takes the level of details in a bim to another dimension by simulating the construction process of the 3d models using construction planning software technology. 4d bim enables the team to introduce the construction sequence into the model, simulating the process, checking for mistakes and looking for optimizations. it increases the quality of the design and the cost effectiveness of construction and construction logistics (velasco, 2013). examples of software technologies that can be used to generate 4d, 5d or 6d bim are navisworks, tekla structures, bentley navigator, dinamo, daysim among others (bim handbook, 2011; velasco, 2013). conversely, vicosoftware (2015) argued that 2d bim still remains the cornerstone of construction contracts as 2d vector-based software technologies are still required to produce and document contract information and that 3d bim is a collection of objects such as walls, slabs, columns, doors, and windows. in 5d bim, ‘quantification’ is required only to integrate quantity takeoff, location-based quantities, resources, productivity rates, and labour costs information into the 3d model and time dimension. as an estimating dimension, it gives the cost of the item, the cost of the crew to install it, the tools and materials necessary to install it, and its quantities per location (arcadis, 2015). the sixth dimension in the level of bim details is the operation and maintenance or sustainability information. this level analyses the models for maintenance or sustainability criteria (velasco, 2013). vicosoftware (2015) noted that 6d bim is impossible to develop without interoperability and data exchange standards. 4 o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 the classification for the level of development of building information models was mainly based on geometrical information and other dimensions of building information such as cost, time, maintenance, and sustainability. this classification is not apt for developing construction industries, for example, the nigerian construction industry, where there exists no framework for the level of development of building information models for varied sizes of projects, types of clients, and diverse project delivery systems. for bim implementation rationale in the developing construction industries, the numerals of building information models in a federated building information model could be used to classify the level of development of building information models, regardless of the geometry and dimensions of the constituent building information models in the federated building information models. this will trim down the level of intricacies, cost and information required in the development of building information models. this will in no way diminish the benefits to be derived from bim process, but will bring down the cost of bim process, and make bim adaption easier in small projects, small firms, and developing construction industries. 3. method primary data required for the study was obtained through the administration of structured questionnaire. the study population composed of construction professionals who have substantial involvement and responsibilities in bim and who have generated building information models at any level of details for projects in lagos state. these included the architects, quantity surveyors, facilities managers, civil and structural engineers, building services engineers (mechanical and electrical) and builders. at present, the comprehensive lists of these professionals are not available and this justified the adoption of purposive sampling for selection of the respondents for the study. purposive sampling was adopted for the study. the selection of respondents for the study was done using respondent driven sampling (rds) technique. rds is a sampling technique based on the principle of ‘six degrees of separation’, with the potential to reach any member of a population in six waves and involves a network-based methods that start with a set of initial respondents (driver respondents) who refer their peers; these in turn refer their peers up to the sixth wave. a list of construction professionals who had generated building information models at any level of details in project was compiled using contacts list from social media based on the recommendation of kossinets and watts (2006). the construction professionals were divided into professional groups and the contacts list for each professional group was taken as the personal network size (pns) for the group. pns for this study is the number of known professionals who had generated building information models at any level of details and it is required to determine the target population. the pns for each of the professional group is as shown in table 1. table 1: pns and rds respondents estimate and target population professional group personal network size (pns) estimated number of respondents minimum target sample size (mtss) architects 16 96 77 builders 11 66 57 building services engineers 9 54 48 facilities managers 4 24 23 quantity surveyors 4 24 23 structural/civil engineers 8 48 43 total mtss for the study 282 the rds target population required for the study depends on rds respondents estimate and this was determined by calculating the degree of person (di) and degree of distribution (pdij) for the pns using the summation method proposed by mccarthy et al., (2001). the rds respondents estimate is presented in table 1. the potentials of the pns to name other respondents in six waves were summed to yield an overall estimate. the degree of person (di) was calculated using the formula given by mccarty et al. (2001). 𝑑𝑖 = ∑ 𝑃𝑑𝑖𝑗 (equation 1) where: di = the degree of person i; pdij = 1 (if person i knows person j); and ∑pdij= 6 (for six degrees of separation). rds target population was then determined by calculating the minimum target sample size (mtss) for each of the professional group using the formula given by glen (2013). 𝑛 = 𝑁 1+𝑁(𝑒)2 (equation 2) where: n = sample size; n = population size; and e = level of precision. rds target population for the study is as presented in table 1. mtss is required to compensate for differences in homophily and pns across group and also to determine when the rds should be stopped. the rds for this study was stopped when the mtss for each professional group was reached. information obtained from the respondents included the levels of details and phase of implementation of bim. frequency distribution and percentage, clustered bar chart, mean ranking, kruskal wallis test and fisher o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 5 exact test were used to analyse the levels of bim in use and degree to which the professional groups vary in their level of bim usage. where the ratings of the professional groups for a question were formed into contingency tables, fisher exact test was used to determine if there were significant differences in the ratings indicated by the professional groups. the hyper-geometric probability function to determine significance value in fisher exact test was calculated using the following formula as given by weisstein (1999): 𝑃 = (𝑅1 !𝑅2!……𝑅𝑚!)(𝐶1!𝐶2!……𝐶𝑛!) 𝑁! ∏ 𝑎𝑖𝑗!𝑖𝑗 (equation3) where: n = total number of values in all the groups = ∑iri =∑jcj ri = row sums ci = column sums aij = number of observations in which x=i and y=j to determine if the ratings for a set of questions on the objective originated from the same professional group and to show if there are statistically significant differences among construction professional groups, kruskal wallis test was conducted on the responses owing to its sensitivity to unequal means. the discrepancies among the rank sums were combined to create a single value called kruskal wallis statistic using the formula given by national institute of standards and technology (2015): 𝐻 = 12 𝑛(𝑛+1) ∑ 𝑅𝑖 2 𝑛𝑖 𝑘 𝑖=1 − 3(𝑛 + 1) (equation4) where ni = sample sizes for each of the k groups ri= sum of the ranks for group i 4. results 4.1 profile of respondents the total mtss of two hundred and eighty two construction professionals (282) as determined from the rds target population guided the total number of respondents surveyed for the study. seventy-eight responses were from architects, representing 27.7% of the total respondents. fifty-nine responses were from builders (20.9%), fifty-one from building services engineers (18.10%), forty-six from structural engineers (16.3%), twenty-four from quantity surveyors (8.5%) and twenty-four from facilities managers (8.5%). this shows that all the construction professional groups were represented in the survey and the conclusions from this study won’t be biased. regarding the academic qualification of the respondents, 38.3% of respondents were bsc. holders, followed by respondents holding m.sc. degree accounting for 34.0% of the total respondents. respondents who were hnd holders accounted for 27.0% of the respondents; while respondents who were phd holders accounted for 0.7% of the total respondents. this suggests that the respondents are well educated and would be able to respond to the questions with understanding. the distribution of respondents according to number of projects they had been involved in was also surveyed. respondents who had been involved in at least 16 projects accounted for 26.2% of the total respondents, followed by respondents who had been involved in at least 11 projects, representing 25.5% of the total respondents. 20.6% of respondents have been involved in at least 5 projects, while 12.8% of respondents have been involved in more than 21 projects. this shows that the average respondents had participated in about seven projects. this shows that the respondents have enough working experience to provide the required information for this study. on the subject of the experience level of the respondents for this study. only 50.4% of the surveyed respondents had at least 5 years of experience in the nigerian construction industry. 32.6% of the total respondents are professionals with at least 11 years of working experience. no more than 8.5% participants have less than 5 years’ experience. while 2.1% of the total respondents have worked in the construction industry for 21 years and above. this suggests that there was great depth in the experience possessed by the respondents and that the information provided by these professionals can be considered reliable. 4.2 phase of bim implementation adopted for work processes in the study area to achieve the objective of this study, it was noted that implementation of bim in projects or organizations is in phases; and that bim could be developed as 2d building information model (2d bim) and federated building information models (3d, 4d, 5d and 6d bim) depending on the stage of bim implementation and level of details required for the project or applicable in the organization. respondents were therefore asked to identify the phases of bim implementation that they had adopted for their work processes. the phases of bim implementation employed by the respondents were analysed using frequency distribution and percentage and clustered bar chart, this is as presented in figure 1. a significant number of respondents (19.9% and 18.4%) were still at visualization phase of bim implementation and visualization with coordination phase of bim implementation respectively, as shown in figure 1. only 11.3% of the respondents indicated that they were sharing digital information among project team members. however, bim models were still not being shared collaboratively among project team members, as only 4.3% of the total respondents indicated that they shared information models collaboratively. while, 12.8% of the total respondents indicated that they were adjusting the work process towards bim process. 6 o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 figure 1: phase of bim implementation among the surveyed construction professionals. 4.3 generation of 2d bim in the study area professionals had adopted computer aided design (cad) and were using it in so many forms, such as 2d and 3d cad. cad adoption is often described as the starting point for bim adoption. therefore, the study examined the level of generating 2d bim among the construction professionals. a 5-point likert scale was adopted for the study, where 1 = very low level of generation, 2= low level of generation, 3=average level of generation, 4=high level of generation, and 5= very high level of generation. it can be seen from figure 2 that, 34% of the respondents indicated high usage of 2d bim for projects, 31.9% indicated very high level of generation of 2d bim; while 9.9% indicated average level of generation of 2d bim. no more than 4.3% and 19.9% of the total respondents indicated very low level of generation of 2d bim and low level of generation of 2d bim respectively. figure 2: level of generating 2d bim among construction professionals. a test of significance difference and ranking of the level of generation of 2d bim among construction professionals was conducted using kruskal wallis test and mean score. as shown in table 2, the variance in the level of 2d bim being generated among construction professionals is significant. builders accounted for the majority of those with high level of generation of 2d bim with a mean score of 4.27. facilities managers and quantity surveyors also have high level of generation of 2d bim with a mean score of 4.00; while architects and structural/civil engineers have average level of generation of 2d bim with mean scores of 3.97 and 3.08 respectively. only building services engineers recorded low level of generation of 2d bim with a mean score of 2.08. table 2: mean score and kruskal wallis test on levels of generating 2d bim among construction professionals. construction professionals very low low average high very high total mean score rank significant value architect 0 0 28 24 26 78 3.97 4 0.001 builder 0 7 0 22 30 59 4.27 1 building service engineers 0 49 0 2 0 51 2.08 6 facilities manager 0 0 0 24 0 24 4.00 2 quantity surveyor 0 0 0 24 0 24 4.00 2 structural/civil engineer 12 0 0 0 34 46 3.08 5 total 282 4.4 forms of 3d bim being generated in the study area in order to obtain information on the level of details of 3d bim in use among the surveyed construction professionals, 3d bim dimensions were broken up into different variants by describing them according to possible numerals of the building information model contained in the federated building information models. respondents were then asked to indicate the rate of generating 3d bim dimensions and their variants. the standard form of 3d bim is 3d architectural and engineering (structural and building services) models. however, most professionals develop 3d bim in some other form than the standard 3d bim. table 3 shows the forms of 3d bim being generated by the surveyed 19.90% 11.30% 12.80% 4.30% 18.40% 13.50% 13.70% visualization phase (production of 3d models) coordination phase (sharing digital information among… adaption phase (adjusting the work process towards bim… integration phase (sharing bim models collaboratively on a… visualization and coordination phase all phases visualization and adoption phase phase of bim implementation among construction professionals 4.30% 19.90% 9.90% 34.00% 31.90% very low low average high very high adoption level of 2d bim o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 7 construction professionals, together with the level of generating standard 3d bim. forms of 3d bim with high level of development by the surveyed construction professionals were 3d architectural model, 3d architectural and structural model and 3d architectural, electrical and mechanical model. standard 3d bim (architectural, structural, electrical and mechanical models), 3d structural model and 3d structural, electrical and mechanical model were rated as having low level of generation. table 3: level of generating 3d bim and its variants by construction professionals 3d bim and its variants very low low average high very high mean score standard 3d bim (architectural, structural, electrical and mechanical models) 24.80% 21.30% 18.40% 15.60% 19.90% 2.84 3d architectural model 24.80% 0.00% 6.70% 28.70% 39.70% 3.59 3d architectural and structural model 24.10% 0.00% 13.50% 48.90% 13.50% 3.28 3d structural model 29.80% 21.30% 4.30% 24.80% 15.60% 2.62 3d structural, electrical and mechanical model 46.10% 16.30% 18.40% 9.90% 9.20% 2.20 3d architectural, electrical and mechanical model 29.80% 0.00% 18.10% 27.30% 24.80% 3.17 4.5 forms of 4d bim being generated in the study area standard 4d bim can be generated by adding time dimension to standard 3d bim. therefore, this study examined the level of generating 4d bim by construction professionals in the study area. different forms of 4d bim were identified and presented to the respondents. as explained in table 4, 36.9% of the respondents were adding time dimension to 3d architectural model to generate a form of 4d bim. similarly, for the standard 4d bim, 14.9% of the total respondents indicated high level of generation; while 33.3% indicated low level. among the variants of 4d bim, only 3d architectural model and time dimension had average level of generation with a mean score of 3.11; while standard 4d bim (standard 3d bim and time dimension), 3d structural model and time dimension, 3d architectural model and cost dimension, 3d architectural and structural model and cost dimension and 3d architectural and structural model and facilities management had low level of generation with an average mean score of 2.34. table 4: level of generating 4d bim and its variants among construction professionals 4d bim and variants very low low average high very high mean score 3d architectural model and time dimension 37.60% 0.00% 12.80% 12.80% 36.90% 3.11 3d architectural and structural model and facilities management 23.40% 28.40% 18.40% 0.00% 29.80% 2.84 3d architectural and structural model and cost dimension 25.50% 24.80% 8.50% 23.40% 17.70% 2.83 standard 4d bim (standard 3d bim and time dimension) 33.30% 0.00% 42.60% 9.20% 14.90% 2.72 3d architectural model and cost dimension 58.90% 0.00% 13.50% 9.90% 17.70% 2.28 3d structural model and time dimension 44.00% 0.00% 36.90% 9.20% 9.90% 2.25 3d electrical and mechanical model and facilities management 54.60% 27.70% 12.80% 0.70% 4.30% 1.72 3d structural model and cost dimension 48.90% 46.80% 4.30% 0.00% 0.00% 1.55 3d architectural model and facilities management information 72.70% 22.30% 0.00% 4.30% 0.70% 1.38 3d electrical and mechanical model and time dimension 78.40% 8.50% 13.10% 0.00% 0.00% 1.35 3d electrical and mechanical model and cost dimension 79.40% 7.10% 12.80% 0.70% 0.00% 1.35 3d structural model and facilities management information 70.90% 24.10% 5.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.34 4.6 forms of 5d bim being generated in the study area using the same likert scale, different forms of 5d bim were identified and used to examine the level of development of 5d bim by the construction professionals in the study area. the result from table 5 revealed that 60.3% of the respondents indicated very low generation of standard 5d bim. similarly, the usage of other forms of 5d bim is very low with 29.1% indicating very low level of generation of 3d architectural-structural-time and cost dimension model, and 46.8% indicating very low level of generation of 3d architectural-electricalmechanical-time and cost model. none of the variants of 5d bim have high level of generation. the variants of 5d bim with low level of generation (mean score between 2.00-2.99) were standard 5d bim (standard 4d and cost dimension), 3d architectural, structural, time and cost dimension, 3d architectural, electrical, mechanical, time and cost dimension, 3d architectural, time and cost dimension, and 3d architectural, structural, electrical, mechanical, facilities management and cost dimension 8 o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 table 5: level of generating 5d bim and its variants among construction professional 5d bim and its variants very low low average high very high mean score 3d architectural, time and cost dimension 46.50% 0.40% 5.70% 4.30% 43.30% 2.98 3d architectural, structural, time and cost dimension 29.10% 9.20% 25.50% 28.40% 4.30% 2.59 3d architectural, electrical, mechanical, time and cost dimension 46.80% 19.90% 5.00% 24.10% 8.50% 2.4 3d architectural, structural, electrical, mechanical, facilities management and cost dimension 9.90% 59.60% 29.10% 0.00% 4.30% 2.38 standard 5d bim (standard 4d and cost dimension) 39.70% 27.70% 9.20% 19.10% 4.30% 2.21 3d structural, electrical, mechanical, time and cost dimension 42.60% 45.40% 3.50% 5.70% 8.50% 1.95 3d architectural, structural, electrical, mechanical and time and facilities management dimension 60.30% 7.80% 17.00% 14.90% 0.00% 1.87 3d architectural, facilities management and time dimension 61.00% 15.60% 9.90% 5.00% 8.50% 1.84 3d architectural, facilities management and cost dimension 54.00% 26.20% 5.00% 9.90% 4.30% 1.83 3d structural, electrical, mechanical, time and facilities management 51.80% 44.00% 0.00% 0.00% 4.30% 1.61 3d structural, facilities management and cost dimension 68.10% 19.10% 4.30% 4.30% 4.30% 1.57 3d structural, facilities management and time dimension 71.60% 24.10% 0.00% 0.00% 4.30% 1.41 3d electrical, mechanical, facilities management and time dimension 71.60% 24.10% 0.00% 4.30% 0.00% 1.37 3d structural, time and cost dimension 77.70% 21.60% 4.30% 0.00% 0.00% 1.34 3d electrical, mechanical, facilities management and cost dimension 71.60% 27.70% 0.70% 0.00% 0.00% 1.29 3d electrical and mechanical model and time and cost dimension 74.50% 25.50% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.26 3d structural, electrical, mechanical, facilities management and cost dimension 78.40% 21.60% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.22 4.7 forms of 6d bim being generated in the study area the current level of details in bim is 6d comprising of standard 5d bim and facilities management information. however, based on the identified possible numerals and implementation strategies that could be adopted by various construction professionals, it is possible to have other forms of 6d bim. these forms of 6d bim were identified and presented to the respondents to rate the level of using them. the level of generation of 6d bim and its variants among construction professionals is as explained in table 6. in the table, 36.9% and 37.6% of the respondents indicated that their level of generating standard 6d bim (standard 5d bim and facilities management information) were very low and low respectively. also, as explained in table 6, only standard 6d bim (standard 5d bim and facilities management information) had low level of usage with a mean score of 2.06. table 6: level of generating 6d bim and its variants among construction professionals 6d bim and its variants very low low average high very high mean score standard 6d bim (standard 5d bim and facilities management information) 36.90% 37.60% 12.80% 8.50% 4.30% 2.06 standard 6d bim (standard 5d bim and facilities management information) 36.90% 37.60% 12.80% 8.50% 4.30% 2.06 3d architectural-electrical-mechanical-facilities management and time dimension 49.60% 24.80% 17.00% 8.50% 0.00% 1.84 3d architectural-electrical-mechanical-facilities management and time dimension 49.60% 24.80% 17.00% 8.50% 0.00% 1.84 3d architectural-structural-facilities management and time dimension 46.00% 36.90% 12.10% 4.30% 0.00% 1.74 3d architectural-structural-facilities management and time dimension 46.00% 36.90% 12.10% 4.30% 0.00% 1.74 3d structural-electrical-mechanical-facilities management and time dimension 70.90% 19.90% 0.70% 4.30% 4.30% 1.51 3d structural-electrical-mechanical-facilities management and time dimension 70.90% 19.90% 0.70% 4.30% 4.30% 1.51 o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 9 3d electrical-mechanical-facilities management-time and cost dimension 79.40% 20.60% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.21 3d electrical-mechanical-facilities management-time and cost dimension 79.40% 20.60% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.21 4.8 difference in the levels of generating federated building information models among the surveyed construction professionals it was assumed that the construction professionals might not be developing federated building information models at the same level and level of details. to establish this supposition, a test of difference was conducted on the responses of the surveyed construction professionals and trend line was plotted to show the pattern of level of details of federated building information models being generated by the surveyed construction professionals. fisher exact test was conducted to examine the difference in the levels of generating federated building information models among construction professionals (table 7). comparing the differences in the mean rank for the professional groups, the significant value (p = 0.001) was less than the alpha threshold value (p˂0.05). table 7 also reveals that architect, structural/civil engineers and builders were ahead of other professionals in the generation of federated building information models. table 7: fisher exact test to examine the difference in the levels of generating federated building information models by construction professionals. construction professionals number of respondents mean score rank significant value architect 78 0.39 1 0.001 builder 59 0.32 3 building service engineers 51 0.28 4 facilities manager 24 0.20 6 quantity surveyor 24 0.23 5 structural/civil engineer 46 0.34 2 total 282 figure 3 shows the trend line of details of building information models being developed by the surveyed construction professionals. it can be deduced from the figure that, 2d, 3d and 4d bim were the commonly generated building information models. using the trend line to predict the likely advancement in the levels of development of building information models in the construction industry. the level of development of building information models which started with 2d bim and 3d bim (3d architectural model), would advance thus: 3d bim (architectural + structural), 3d bim (architectural + electrical and mechanical model), 3d (structural model), 3d bim (3d structural + electrical and mechanical model), standard 3d bim (3d architectural + structural + electrical and mechanical), 4d bim (3d architectural + time dimension), standard 4d bim (3d architectural + structural + electrical and mechanical + time dimension), 4d bim (3d structural model + time dimension), 4d bim (3d structural model+ cost dimension), 5d bim (3d architectural + structural + time + cost model), 5d bim (3d structural + facilities management + cost model), 5d bim (3d structural + time + facilities management model), standard 6d bim (3d architectural + structural + electrical and mechanical + time + cost + facilities management model), 6d bim (3d structural + electrical and mechanical + time + cost + facilities management model), 6d bim (3d electrical and mechanical + time + cost + facilities management model), 6d bim (3d architectural + electrical and mechanical + time + cost + facilities management), 6d bim (3d architectural + structural + time + cost + facilities management model. 10 o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 figure 3: trend line of details of building information models. 5. discussion 5.1 bim implementation in construction projects and organizations going by the information presented in figure 1, it could be inferred that bim process is gaining ground among professionals owing to competitiveness and availability of bim software technologies. the results also show that professionals find bim most useful for producing 3d models. bim was also used to coordinate the sharing of information model among professionals. this supports and adds to the findings of building and construction industry productivity partnership (2014) and sawhney (2014) which found that bim is used mostly at the visualization phase of a project and that 3d bim is the most useful bim for construction professionals. the coordination of bim is usually done by the architects or builders depending on the contractual arrangement and the criteria for appointing the project manager, in this case, bim manager. this could explain why 18.4% of the total respondents were at visualization and coordination phase. an architect who has adopted bim for visualization purpose could as well be experimenting with the coordination of sharing of information models among the project team if the architect is the appointed project manager for the project. also, a builder acting as the project or bim manager on a project where architect has adopted bim for visualization may have to implement bim for the 3.7 3.45 3.28 3.11 3.01 2.94 2.89 2.86 2.84 2.83 2.72 2.61 2.57 2.4 2.33 2.27 2.22 2.06 1.99 1.89 2.61 1.85 1.84 1.84 1.83 1.74 1.72 1.61 1.57 1.55 1.51 1.41 1.37 1.35 1.34 1.34 1.29 1.28 1.27 1.26 1.21 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 2d bim 3d bim (3d architectural model) 3d bim (architectural + structural) 3d bim (architectural + electrical and mechanical model) 3d (structural model) 3d bim (3d structural + electrical and mechanical model) standard 3d bim (3d architectural + structural +… 4d bim (3d architectural + time dimension standard 4d bim (3d architectural + structural +… 4d bim (3d structural model + time dimension) 4d bim (3d structural model+ cost dimension) 4d bim (3d structural + facilities management) 4d bim (3d architectural model+ cost dimension) 4d bim (3d architectural + facilities management) 4d bim (3d electrical and mechanical + time model) 4d bim (3d electrical and mechanical model + cost model) 4d bim (3d electrical and mechanical model + facilities… 4d bim (3d architectural + structural + cost model) 4d bim (3d architectural + structural + facilities… standard 5d bim (3d architectural + structural +… 5d bim (3d architectural + structural + time + cost model) 5d bim (3d architectural + electrical and mechanical +… 5d bim (3d structural + electrical and mechanical + time… 5d bim (3d architectural + time + cost model) 5d bim (3d structural + time + cost model) 5d bim (3d electrical and technical + time + cost model) 5d bim (3d architectural + structural + electrical and… 5d bim (3d architectural + structural + electrical and… 5d bim (3d structural + electrical and mechanical+ time… 5d bim (3d structural + electrical and mechanical +… 5d bim (3d electrical and mechanical + facilities… 5d bim (3d electrical and mechanical + time + facilities… 5d bim (3d architectural + facilities management + cost… 5d bim (3d architectural + time + facilities management… 5d bim (3d structural + facilities management + cost… 5d bim (3d structural + time + facilities management model standard 6d bim (3d architectural + structural +… 6d bim (3d structural + electrical and mechanical + time… 6d bim (3d electrical and mechanical + time + cost +… 6d bim (3d architectural + electrical and mechanical +… 6d bim (3d architectural + structural + time + cost +… o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 11 coordination of the information models. this study found that respondents were adjusting their work process towards the bim process. however, there is no formal adoption of bim by the federal government of nigeria or the nigerian construction industry as a whole; therefore the adjustment of work process towards bim adoption by the surveyed construction professionals only implies that individual organizations operating in the nigerian construction industry were feeling the competition posed by firms that are well advanced in ict adoption and cad utilization for projects, and were therefore adopting bim to be relevant and competitive in the industry. the indication of some of the respondents that they were at all phases of bim implementation shows that the construction professionals were lacking information on the process and framework for bim adoption. it also suggests that construction professionals were in haste to adopt bim for projects and work processes without having in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of bim implementation. bim could be adopted for projects without the project participants having implemented or adopted bim in their respective organizations or in their work processes. it is the duty of bim managers to coordinate bim implementation and workflows. as pointed out by ozorhon et al., (2010), bim could be adopted for a project based on the project deliverables; while in organization, bim implementation is based on the organizational objectives. for a successful implementation of bim in a project or in an organization, the phase of implementation should be in stages and not lumped together as a one-time thing. projects are executed in stages, and the stage where visualization is required was not the same as where coordination is required. also, in organizations or in work processes, change comes gradually. time is required to learn bim processes, design bim workflows, and integrate bim application to work process in order to change the old method of work process. 5.2 level of development of 2d bim and federated building information models the findings in figure 2 shows that the level of generating 2d bim (cad adoption) was very high among the surveyed construction professionals and this can be attributed to widespread application of software technologies and advancement in ict in the construction industry of lagos state. builders, quantity surveyors and facilities managers ranked higher than the other professionals in the generation of 2d bim. the fact that builders use and prepare more 2d documents than every other professionals in the construction industry could be responsible for this. 2d documents such as working plan, engineering plan, construction plan, health and safety plan, and work process reports are being required to interpret and construct projects by builders. the reason for high usage of 2d bim software technologies such as masterbill, qs plus and ms excel to develop 2d bim for projects by quantity surveyors and facilities managers could be attributable to the unavailability of cloud-based cost analysis software technologies and digital cost information in nigeria. however, 2d software technologies only present building information in 2d and are not so effective for developing federated building information models. this finding is consistent with other studies from hamil (2013) and oladapo (2006), which showed that the construction industry has fully adopted cad and that the use of cad and software technologies for design, drawing, measurement, estimating and preparation of bill of quantities is common among construction professionals in nigeria. findings on the forms of 3d bim being generated by the surveyed construction professionals revealed that 3d architectural model, 3d architectural and structural model, and 3d architectural and building services model were the most developed variants of 3d bim. high generation of these forms of 3d bim suggests that the construction professionals were advancing on the usage of bim, as 3d bim depicts the point of departure from cad to bim. it also means that architects and builders have ample knowledge of structural design, thereby employing cad software technologies to analyse and develop 3d structural model. the development of 3d structural and building services model by some architects and builders implies that they have ample knowledge of structural and building services design aided by the availability of building services software technologies. the low level of generating standard 3d bim among the respondents shows that bim usage is a new trend among construction professionals in nigeria and that the construction professionals lack the understanding of the appropriate level of details at which building information models should be developed. among the likely variants of 4d bim, only 3d architectural model + time dimension had an appreciable level of generation by the respondents. this shows that construction professionals were adding time dimensions to 3d architectural model to generate a form of 4d bim more than other forms of 4d bim. it could be that builders were able to add time dimension to various forms of 3d models on account of availability of software technologies such as ms project and autodesk naviswork. autodesk naviswork and dinamo allow builders to develop federated building information model and simulate construction timeline by adding time schedule model from ms project or primavera to the federated model. a standard 3d bim is an example of federated building information model. this study found the level of integrating standard 3d bim with time dimension or time schedule model to be low among the respondents and this could be as a result of paucity of information on methods of developing federated building information models. findings on the forms of 5d bim being generated by the respondents indicate low level of development of 5d bim and its variants in the study area. this is an evidence of non-appreciation of bim processes by the quantity surveyors whose responsibility it is to provide cost information model for extending the level of details of standard 4d bim to the fifth dimension. if 3d bim portrays the point of departure from cad to bim; then standard 3d bim represents integration, collaboration and point of departure from fragmentation and traditional work processes in the construction industry. there are bim software technologies that support automatic quantification and 3d taking-off; thereby enabling the development of federated building information models 12 o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 such as 5d bim. in order to facilitate the transformation of the nigerian construction industry, the quantity surveyors must switch from traditional method of quantification to automatic quantification. this finding is consistent with low adoption of bim by the quantity surveyors and with the study by rics (2011), which found that quantity surveyors still use traditional quantification rather than adopting automatic quantification provided by bim. none of the variants of 6d bim were found to have average level of generation. this shows that facilities management is not well developed yet in nigeria and the profession is not witnessing intense competition as being witnessed by the established professions in the construction industry. in addition, the findings explain the reasons why facilities managers ranked lowest among the surveyed construction professionals in the generation of federated building information models. nevertheless, early adoption of bim would transform the facilities management in its cradle of emergence in the nigerian construction industry. this finding is consistent with the study by sawhney (2014) in india, which indicated that the facilities managers are not adopting bim for facilities management operations. the usage of bim starts from the adoption of 3d bim which could be generated using object-based parametric software technologies. quantity surveyors and facilities managers were the top developers of 2d bim which could not be regarded as a proper bim, for that reason, this study examined the difference in the levels of generating federated building information models among the construction professionals in the study area. the observed difference in the levels of federated building information models being generated among the construction professionals was statistically significant. this implies that the surveyed construction professionals were not using bim at the same degree nor generating building information models at the same level of details. the level of generating federated building information models was statistically higher among architects, civil/structural engineers and builders. this finding shows that architects have embraced bim more than any other construction professionals. similar study carried out in the united states of america by autodesk (2011), showed that six out of ten architects use bim. 5.3 inclination in the level of development of building information models the pattern of developing building information models was examined and the result suggests that only 3d architectural and engineering models were being integrated on regular basis. though, not always to the standard form of 3d bim. the result also shows that time dimension was being integrated occasionally to various forms of 3d bim to generate standard 4d bim and its other forms. nevertheless, other dimensions such as cost and facilities management, though they were being modelled using 2d cad, but were not being used in bim to generate 5d and 6d bim on account of compatibility and interoperability issues. interoperability of authoring software technologies is a key issue in bim processes and this is the main reason why 2d cad software technologies are not being regarded as bim software technologies. likewise, information developed using 2d cad software technologies could not be taken as a building information model. this finding is consistent with previous studies by nbs-national bim report (2012) and (2013) in uk and sawhney (2014) in india, which indicated that 2d and 3d bim are still the most prevailing level of bim being generated among construction professionals. furthermore, the trend shows that 2d, 3d and 4d bim would be generated for a very long time. going by the information contents of 2d, 3d and 4d bim, it could be deduced that builders were collaborating with either architects or structural engineers to develop different forms of 4d bim or develop different forms of 4d bim by themselves or in-house. it could also mean that professionals were experimenting with various forms of bim at lower levels of bim details, that is, 2d, 3d and 4d bim, depending on the demand and size of the projects for which they were using bim. however, in complex projects that were more demanding and large in size, and where detailed information are required, professionals were using 4d and 5d bim. this finding is consistent with study by laiserin (2010), which indicated that the demand and size of a project should determine the level of bim to be adopted for projects. 5.4 implications of the findings of this study the findings of this study imply that bim adoption and implementation framework should be developed for the nigerian construction industry as a result of the low level of development, understanding and adoption of bim in the construction industry and amongst construction professionals. the framework should describe the level of development of building information models appropriate for various project characteristics. also, educational and professional institutions should strategize on how to make construction professionals to understand, adopt and implement bim. 5. conclusion levels of development of building information models is a function of the phase of bim implementation and the creation of federated building information models. this paper examined the phase of bim implementation adopted for work processes and the level of generating different forms of building information models by construction professionals in lagos state, nigeria. the paper establishes that bim is used mostly at the visualization phase in project delivery for the production of 3d models. in general, 2d and 3d bim are still the most prevailing building information models being generated. although, 4d bim was barely being created, but the level of details were not consistent with the standard form of adding time dimension to standard 3d bim. the forms of 3d and 4d bim being generated in the study area are 3d architectural model, 3d structural model only, 3d architectural and structural model, and 3d architectural and time dimension. the level of development of 5d bim in lagos state, nigeria is very low because quantity surveyors are still using 2d cad for quantification rather than adopting 3d taking-off methods. this connotes that the status of bim adoption in o. olugboyega and o. o. aina / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-14 13 construction industry in lagos state, nigeria is at the visualization phase. architects, engineers and builders in the study area are generating building information models more than the other professionals owing to the fact that they have knowledge of each other’s profession and form the core of design and construction team members. the findings of this paper are limited to the construction industry in lagos state, nigeria. references arcadis (2015) bim according to acadis. 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[accessed 19th may 2015] jcbm (2018) 2(2). 42-50 exploring the components of cost on construction projects a. windapo1, a. moghayedi2, d. oliphant3 and a. adediran4 1,2,3,4 department of construction economics and management, university of cape town, south africa received 3 april 2018; received in revised form 26 june 2018, 12 july 2018; accepted 21 july 2018 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.573 abstract this study examines the components of construction projects and whether there are construction resources that are key project constituents. the rationale for the study stems from the unexplained assumptions regarding the primary components responsible for increases in construction costs in south africa, due to the lack of a national building cost database. the study adopts a qualitative research approach that employs case studies of six new and six refurbished projects, to obtain the necessary data to answer the research questions. the study found that the primary cost constituents of construction projects were materials and sub-contracted work, accounting for 63.69% and 74.6% of the value of renovation and new construction work respectively. on the average, the major materials by value used in construction projects were identified as reinforcement, cement and filling, while electrical installation was the primary sub-contracted item by value. based on these findings, the study concluded that future levels of construction costs could be predicted, when levels of specialist subcontractor costs and building material costs are known. to improve cost performance of project, the study recommends that the subcontractor and material inputs into construction projects should be carefully managed, both on projects and in the construction industry. the study contributes to the literature on resource planning and control in construction. keywords: cement, construction cost, electrical installation, reinforcement, specialist subcontractor. 1. introduction most construction contracts are awarded on competitive basis and this obliges tenderers to prepare bids based on accurate prediction (ng, cheung, skitmore, lam & wong, 2004). construction clients often demand early and accurate cost advice, because this assists in determining budget, predicting tender price and managing design (lowe, emsley, & harding, 2006). however, increases in construction costs also affect the following: building contract price (ashuri & lu, 2010), contractors’ profit margins (in the absence of any provision in the contract) (chappel, cowlin, & dunn, 2010), and they create major financial stress and difficulties within the project lifespan. there are also effects such as the inability of developers to deliver affordable housing, high tender valuation, a decrease in tender competition and poor construction industry performance. this becomes more difficult on infrastructure projects, such as the medupi power station in south africa, which may experience project challenges persisting for many years. 1 corresponding author. tel: +27216502049 email address: abimbola.windapo@uct.ac.za the south african construction industry, like the other sectors of the economy, has been facing several challenges over the past few years (since 2012). with 1.431 million people employed in the construction industry (stats sa, 2018) it plays a crucial role as a major driver of economic growth and development; thus, the need arises for a proper understanding of the main project components by value, to provide more accurate knowledge of cost indicators and inflators in the construction industry. furthermore, due to the effect that cost increases in construction have on project performance and on construction industry stakeholders, a study is essential to identify the components responsible for the increases in the cost of construction work in south africa. this is because so far, only unexplained assumptions have described how cost components are related to key project constituents. this paper therefore presents a review of literature on the cost of delivering infrastructure projects, and descriptions of construction cost components, in medium to large construction university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.573 a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 43 projects. the research methodology used in the study is articulated, and the results of the study and the conclusions derived from the study are also presented. 1.1 overview of the delivery cost of construction projects a comparison of the construction cost per square metre between south africa, brazil, russia, india and china (brics), the g8 and some african union (au) countries, shows that south africa has relatively lower construction costs than most other countries, at only $741/sq.m (compass international consultants inc, 2016). labour productivity is also lower in south africa: it takes an average south african worker 1 450 hour to complete a task, compared with 1 000 hours by a labourer in the usa. the usa has the highest productivity constant globally. on the basis of the comparatively low labour cost ($25.50/hour) and lower labour productivity in south africa, this country continues to have lower construction costs when compared to other brics and au countries (angola, egypt, ghana, kenya, morocco and nigeria) (compass international consultants inc., 2016). despite this advantage, construction cost in south africa increased by 26% between 2010 and 2015 (bureau of economic research, 2016). exploring the construction components driving the increase would enable stakeholders to plan and put measures in place to address future cost increases. 1.2 construction cost components the components of construction costs consist of the resource factors (labour, materials, plant and subcontractors); project factors (profit margin, overhead costs, supervision/management, finance, transportation and exchange rates); and the cost of legislative requirements (professional fees, transaction costs and permits). resource factors are the inputs used in the production process to produce an output – this is the final product-building or infrastructure in construction. according to odediran and windapo (2014), skitmore, runeson and chang (2006), lowe, emsley, and harding (2006), sawhney, walsh and brown iv (2004), eastham (1986) and snyman (2007), resource factors contributing to the cost of construction work comprise of labour, materials, equipment and subcontractors. regarding project factors, earlier studies by skitmore, runeson and chang (2006) identified overhead costs as a significant contributor to final construction cost. olatunji (2010), ng, cheung, skitmore, lam and wong (2000), eastham (1986) and snyman (2007) identified transportation costs, interest rates, fuel price and energy costs as significant contributors to construction costs. meanwhile, previous studies by sawhney, walsh and brown iv (2004), akintoye (2000) and eastham (1986) found that stakeholder requirements such as professional fees (for design and supervision), contract documentation/transaction costs, and legal and financial requirements were significant contributors to construction costs. 2. research methodology a multi-case study approach was used to achieve the purpose of this study. because the study employed a longitudinal approach, only construction cost components that were seasonal/ time based and changed consistently over time, such as labour, materials, equipment, subcontractors and project preliminaries were considered. other cost strategies such as mark-ups/profits were not included. only direct construction costs were considered. in this study, construction cost refers to the total value of works executed by medium to large sized general building and civil engineering contracting firm. the details of projects and their cost estimates are presented in table 1. the selection criteria for projects are: they were designed and planned for construction within the last five years that is 2012 to 2017; they were representative of public sector projects; they were of a size and tender price typical of works undertaken by mediumto -large sized general building and civil engineering contractors. table 1: description of case studies no renovation project tender price (million zar) gfa (m2) tender submission date r1 admin building 7,380 1 900m2 2012 r2 school building 45,134 5 336 m2 2016 r3 hospital 130,304 2 400 m2 2015 r4 road (concrete) 98,825 (+upgrade) 7.98km long & 9.8m wide 2013 r5 court unknown 13 060m2 2015 r6 community clinic 45 1 950 m2 2016 no new project tender price (million zar) gfa (m2) tender submission date n1 school building 10,373 2 771 m2 2015 n2 hospital 171,786 3 691 m2 2015 n3 road (concrete) 98,825 (+upgrade) 2.17km long & 9,8m wide 2013 n4 administration building 56,386 1 194 m2 2015 n5 municipal waste water treatment plant 180,923 11 300 m2 2015 n6 community clinic 45,506 1 549 m2 2015 44 a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 the relevant priced bills of quantities of the 12 representative public-sector projects were obtained. thereafter a model of the cost components for each case study was developed. this model was used to identify direct/indirect cost components: labour, materials, equipment, subcontractors and project preliminaries, and their share of the project cost envelope. the research team made use of standard estimating protocol, which included developing constants from first principles. the compass estimating handbook (2016) was used as a reference and ccs candy estimating software (used by construction companies in south africa) was used to develop cost models for the project. 2.1 specification of cost variables the project costs were obtained consistently for all the projects in the study, based on the following assumptions: • unit rates for resources were priced at industry accepted charge-out rates. • a daily shift was specified at 8.5 working hours. • concrete was generally priced as mixed on-site. • concrete for roads would be mixed at a batch plant and pumped into position on site. • scaffolding requirements were priced in preliminaries. • carting away of discarded or surplus material was priced in preliminaries. • where no specification was provided, wall height was assumed to be 3m. • trades priced directly were considered to be the least specialized, namely earthworks, concrete, formwork, reinforcement, masonry, carpentry and joinery, ironmongery, plastering, tiling, plumbing, glazing, roadworks and painting. • inefficiencies such as delays in production were not allowed for. • only the cost of materials and on-site costs were considered in terms of the installation of materials; all costs required to deliver materials to the site were ignored, as these would skew the cost of the material. • production rates were specified as constant through the day. • labour costs did not include standing time. • building method was a constant and changes were based on the specification of the bill item. 2.2 main resources priced the main resources priced were: • material: cement, sand, bricks, sawn timber, fill material for earthworks and roads, diesel, reinforcement, structural steel; glazing, bitumen, tar and copper piping. • labour skill level: general labourer, artisan, and operator for plant. • plant: excavator, digger loader, road paver, and earthfilling compactor. • preliminaries: all indirect costs associated with construction, provided for by a lump-sum value. the factors that would cause resources to be priced in the preliminaries were that the resource would be used across all trades managed by the main contractor, and that it would be required for a long period of time on the project. therefore, the following items were priced as preliminaries: health and safety requirements, management costs on and off-site, general scaffolding, general miscellaneous resources, commissioning requirements, head office and site overheads, costs to deliver resources to site, contractual requirements attracting a cost, and provisional sum. • subcontracted work: specialist installation including subcontractor overheads and management fees, delivery costs to bring resources to site and all commissioning requirements of specialist installations. these specialist installations were: – ceilings and partitions, drainage, electrical installation and reticulation, humidification, air-conditioning and ventilation, landscaping, fire detection and protection, data and it installation, telecoms, core drilling, access control, heat pumps, gas and gas conduits, roller shutter doors, piling and signage. 3. results tables 2 and 3 show a summary of the portion of the construction cost components obtained from the cases examined. table 2: construction cost distributed according to constituent resources for renovation projects (q1: 2016 prices) projects resource component share (%) labour material plant preliminary subcontractor total r1. admin building 5.19 9.23 0.37 15.61 69.60 100 r2. renovation of school building 19.70 52.18 10.53 7.46 10.13 100 r3. renovation of hospital 28.82 12.95 2.76 14.01 41.47 100 r4. rehabilitation of municipal road (concrete) 7.08 54.26 16.90 21.75 0.00 100 r5. refurbishment of family and regional court 34.30 42.87 5.19 3.87 13.76 100 r6. renovation of community clinic 13.89 31.00 3.01 7.44 44.66 100 average share 18.16 33.75 6.46 11.69 29.94 100 table 3: construction cost distributed according to constituent resources for new projects (q1: 2016 prices) projects resource component share (%) labour material plant preliminary subcontractor total a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 45 n1. new primary school 23.83 49.81 3.77 6.24 16.35 100 n2. new hospital 8.89 24.98 1.14 10.16 54.86 100 n3. new road (concrete) 5.70 56.76 14.22 15.23 8.09 100 n4. new admin building 11.17 25.22 2.39 11.18 50.05 100 n5. waste management facility 7.77 30.62 3.75 4.21 53.65 100 n6. community clinic (new) 17.81 35.68 1.16 3.83 41.52 100 average share 12.53 37.18 4.41 8.48 37.42 100 table 2 and 3 show that while the cost of materials had the highest proportion on the average (33.75%) in large renovation projects, in newly built project, the value of specialist subcontractor work was the highest (37.42%). the two resource components of building materials and specialist subcontractors account for a total of 63.69% and 74.6% of the total cost of renovation and new construction work respectively. it can be inferred from these findings that building material and sub-contracting are the most heavily weighted construction components in the cost of both new and renovation projects. the study therefore further explored the two components, building materials and sub-contracting, to determine the constituent elements of these resource factors. the study sought to know the value of the key building materials used on the renovation and new building projects. data related to this enquiry is presented in figures 1 and 2, and tables 4 and 5. figure 1: value of building materials used in renovation projects, sorted by type table 4: distribution of the value of building materials used in renovation projects sorted by type materials r 1 r 2 r 3 r 4 r 5 r 6 average utilization reinforcement 18.84% 0.00% 11.29% 16.94% 73.26% 6.28% 21.10% g2, g7 and other fillings 3.36% 0.00% 9.99% 5.09% 2.37% 91.89% 18.78% cement 18.05% 17.00% 20.58% 22.21% 9.21% 0.00% 14.51% all bricks (nfx, nfp, nfpe) 5.59% 41.18% 13.70% 12.03% 6.21% 0.00% 13.12% shutterboard 22.40% 0.00% 9.87% 15.58% 0.00% 0.00% 7.98% crushed stone 12.78% 0.00% 11.35% 10.68% 4.04% 0.00% 6.47% sawn timber 0.20% 25.88% 6.21% 0.15% 0.52% 0.00% 5.49% sand 4.72% 3.69% 4.12% 7.97% 1.76% 0.00% 3.71% copper piping 6.62% 5.68% 3.42% 5.38% 0.50% 0.00% 3.60% glazing 5.37% 6.58% 0.25% 1.90% 2.14% 0.00% 2.71% structural steel 1.06% 0.00% 7.89% 2.06% 0.00% 0.00% 1.83% tar 0.68% 0.00% 0.91% 0.00% 0.00% 0.84% 0.41% r 1 r 2 r 3 r 4 r 5 r 6 46 a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 bitumen 0.32% 0.00% 0.43% 0.00% 0.00% 0.99% 0.29% precast concrete 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% masonry blocks 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% table 4 and figure 1 show that on the average and across the six renovation projects examined, reinforcement, filling, cement and bricks are used more, by value, while masonry blocks and precast concrete items are not used at all. figure 2: value of building materials used in new projects, sorted by type table 5: distribution of the value of building materials used in new projects sorted by type materials n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 average utilization reinforcement 25.96% 26.74% 17.93% 14.45% 12.57% 1.22% 16.48% cement 19.42% 18.22% 23.60% 2.53% 19.41% 11.26% 15.74% g2, g7 and other fillings 0.00% 2.48% 2.88% 13.57% 12.06% 53.01% 14.00% crushed stone 12.58% 12.60% 11.53% 12.61% 9.13% 9.51% 11.33% shutterboard 16.01% 23.49% 11.97% 1.35% 7.87% 1.43% 10.35% all bricks (nfx, nfp, nfpe) 10.26% 7.66% 17.51% 0.14% 21.65% 0.00% 9.54% sand 4.59% 4.10% 5.99% 19.03% 4.28% 3.61% 6.94% structural steel 0.00% 0.73% 3.74% 31.24% 3.29% 0.00% 6.50% copper piping 6.84% 0.79% 3.84% 0.18% 4.14% 0.00% 2.63% precast concrete 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.55% 12.62% 2.20% glazing 4.02% 2.71% 0.50% 0.66% 4.52% 0.00% 2.07% tar 0.02% 0.12% 0.00% 1.52% 0.00% 4.10% 0.96% bitumen 0.01% 0.08% 0.00% 0.93% 0.00% 3.24% 0.71% masonry blocks 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.78% 0.00% 0.00% 0.30% sawn timber 0.28% 0.28% 0.51% 0.00% 0.52% 0.00% 0.27% n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 47 table 5 and figure 2 show that on the average and across the six new projects examined, reinforcement, cement, filling, crushed stone and shutterboards account for 67.9% of the building material component, while masonry blocks and sawn timber are used much less. the study also sought to know the key specialist subcontractors by value that were engaged on the renovation and new building projects. data related to this enquiry is presented in figures 3 and 4, and tables 6 and 7. figure 3: value of specialist work in renovation projects, sorted by type table 6: distribution of the value of specialist work used in renovation projects sorted by type specialist subcontractor r 1 r 2 r 3 r 4 r 5 r 6 average utilization electrical installation 36.07% 42.70% 50.27% 0 0.00% 32.45% 40.37% ceilings and partitions 10.76% 23.60% 15.23% 0 11.85% 7.48% 17.23% mechanical 53.17% 0.00% 0.00% 0 0.00% 2.07% 13.81% hvac 0.00% 0.00% 14.01% 0 0.00% 33.12% 11.78% drainage 0.00% 22.92% 1.72% 0 15.91% 4.34% 11.22% fire protection 0.00% 0.00% 2.81% 0 24.50% 0.88% 7.05% landscaping 0.00% 10.79% 1.63% 0 10.77% 0.68% 5.97% gas and gas conducting 0.00% 0.00% 3.63% 0 0.00% 11.89% 3.88% roller shutter blinds 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0 14.01% 0.00% 3.50% core drilling 0.00% 0.00% 0.05% 0 12.19% 0.00% 3.06% signage 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0 10.77% 0.00% 2.69% telecommunications 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0 0.00% 4.48% 1.12% access control 0.00% 0.00% 4.35% 0 0.00% 0.00% 1.09% lifts and hoisting 0.00% 0.00% 2.28% 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.57% fire detection 0.00% 0.00% 1.63% 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.41% heat pumps 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0 0.00% 1.38% 0.35% it installation 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0 0.00% 1.22% 0.31% c e il in g s a n d p a r it io n s d r a in a g e e l e c t r ic a l i n s t a l l a t io n h v a c l a n d s c a p in g f ir e d e t e c t io n f ir e p r o t e c t io n p u b l ic a d d r e s s s y s t e m t e l e v is io n n e t w o r k a c c e s s c o n t r o l c o r e d r il l in g l if t s a n d h o is t in g a u t o c l a v e s g a s a n d g a s c o n d u it in g l a u n d r y e q u ip m e n t ir r ig a t io n s ig n a g e r o l l e r s h u t t e r b l in d s t e l e c o m m iu n ic a t io n s i t i n s t a l l a t io n m e c h a n ic a l h e a t p u m p s r 1 r 2 r 3 r 4 r 5 r 6 48 a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 public address system 0.00% 0.00% 0.84% 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.21% laundry equipment 0.00% 0.00% 0.66% 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.16% irrigation 0.00% 0.00% 0.54% 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.14% television network 0.00% 0.00% 0.19% 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.05% autoclaves 0.00% 0.00% 0.15% 0 0.00% 0.00% 0.04% table 6 and figure 3 reveal that on the average and across the six renovation projects examined, the value of electrical installation, ceilings / partitions and mechanical / hvac systems is higher, while the value of cctv installation is much lower. figure 4: value of specialist work in new projects, sorted by type table 1: distribution of the value of specialist work used in new projects sorted by type specialist subcontractor n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 average utilization electrical installation 73.14% 22.97% 0.00% 30.92% 17.88% 40.96% 38.74% drainage 0.00% 3.35% 99.47% 9.95% 6.40% 12.12% 30.34% hvac 0.00% 22.02% 0.00% 25.11% 57.86% 0.00% 19.97% ceilings and partitions 25.29% 4.84% 0.00% 3.23% 0.96% 7.02% 9.53% mechanical 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 25.48% 6.37% cath lab 0.00% 15.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.75% gas and gas conducting 0.00% 11.59% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 2.90% landscaping 0.00% 0.17% 0.53% 2.34% 5.65% 3.05% 2.35% fencing 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.88% 6.31% 2.05% piling 0.00% 6.66% 0.00% 5.17% 0.00% 0.00% 1.66% fire detection 0.00% 2.90% 0.00% 0.00% 1.94% 0.68% 1.38% lifts and hoisting 0.00% 5.25% 0.00% 3.07% 0.00% 0.00% 1.31% medical gas 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 4.39% 1.10% off-site galvanizing 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.89% 0.00% 0.97% c e il in g s a n d p a r it io n s d r a in a g e e l e c t r ic a l i n s t a l l a t io n h v a c l a n d s c a p in g f ir e d e t e c t io n f ir e p r o t e c t io n t e l e v is io n n e t w o r k a c c e s s c o n t r o l c o r e d r il l in g l if t s a n d h o is t in g g a s a n d g a s c o n d u it in g ir r ig a t io n p il in g r o l l e r s h u t t e r b l in d s r e v o l v in g d o o r c a t h l a b t e l e c o m m iu n ic a t io n s i t i n s t a l l a t io n l in e n c u r t a in t r a c k m e c h a n ic a l l a t e r a l s u p p o r t r o l l e r s h u t t e r d o o r s o f f -s it e g a l v a n is in g f e n c in g m e d ic a l g a s n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 49 irrigation 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 2.47% 0.00% 0.62% linen 0.00% 1.59% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.40% fire protection 1.57% 0.00% 0.00% 7.93% 0.00% 0.00% 0.39% telecommunications 0.00% 1.06% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.27% it installation 0.00% 1.06% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.27% roller shutter doors 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 1.06% 0.00% 0.26% television network 0.00% 0.64% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.16% revolving door 0.00% 0.36% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.09% core drilling 0.00% 0.21% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.05% curtain track 0.00% 0.21% 0.00% 6.46% 0.00% 0.00% 0.05% access control 0.00% 0.07% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.02% roller shutter blinds 0.00% 0.03% 0.00% 0.72% 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% lateral support 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 5.10% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% table 7 and figure 4 reveal that on the average and across the six new projects examined, electrical installation, drainage and hvac systems account for a total of 89.05% of the total new building specialist subcontractor component, while the value of cctv installation is much lower. 4. discussion of findings the study examined the components of construction projects and whether there were construction resources that were the key project cost constituents. the study found that the building material and sub-contracting element were the key construction components contributing to the cost of both new and renovation projects. this finding is aligned with those of previous studies by odediran and windapo (2014), skitmore, runeson and chang (2006), lowe, emsley, and harding (2006). the study also established that reinforcement is used most by value in both new and renovation projects, followed by cement, filling materials and crushed stones. the latter are used more by value in new projects, while filling materials of cement and bricks are used more by value in renovation projects. furthermore, the electrical installation is installed most by value of total installation in both new and renovation projects and followed by celling and partition installations. the value of mechanical and hvac installations is higher in renovation projects, while the drainage, hvac and celling and partition installations is higher in new projects. this finding is of significance to policy makers and clients in the construction industry because it makes available the average cost of components and enables a consistent comparison of construction projects based on cost. 5. conclusions the study was able to identify the common components which contribute significantly to construction cost, in medium to large construction projects. the primary objective of any pricing regime should be to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently, and an understanding of the indicators and drivers of cost will aid decision making. this can enhance cost management related to the sector. based on the analysis of the data collected, it can be inferred that the resource factors with a significant share of construction cost in south africa, are specialist subcontractors, and materials, while labour cost is observed to be close to the brics average cost in absolute terms. the results imply that challenges such as the weak rand relative to the us dollar will continue to exert pressure on construction cost, through the material cost component. this is because the import of vital equipment and materials will raise cost above specified budget, thereby increasing the overall cost of the project. however, this may be due to the fact that many of the construction components, including materials, labour and equipment are obtained in south africa. therefore, the effects of import costs in the construction industry are not felt to the same extent in other industries. the data shows that materials and sub-contracted work are the significant cost drivers responsible for trends in the cost of construction projects in south africa, and that the future levels of the cost of construction work can be predicted using known levels of material and specialist subcontractors’ costs. another significant finding is about the use of specialist subcontractors as a resource on both new and renovation projects. it can be inferred from the results obtained that there are benefits to the use of specialist subcontractors in construction project delivery. this is because the subcontractor has knowledge which can be highly utilized across various project types. as a result of this, the specialist subcontractors can examine cost projections in different and favourable ways, not normally used by the main contractor. the subcontractors’ knowledge may make for better coordination and planning and may lower overall costs on projects. furthermore, it is expected that in the long term, changes in the price of materials will also be a big factor in increasing future costs of construction. for example, it is expected that building materials affected by international trade, such as cement, reinforcement and bitumen, which have abnormal price growth, will affect future levels of construction costs. 6. recommendations 50 a. windapo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 42-50 to ensure an effective cost driving mechanism, in addition to designing an appropriate pricing policy to minimize production cost, it is important that sound investment decisions and improved management oversight are implemented to ensure that the cost of labour, plant, fuel and material inputs to production are minimised, thereby streamlining operations. also, a database for the construction sector in south africa should be properly developed, to facilitate proper estimation of construction cost, as well as improvement in risk management. however, there are at least two constructing firms that provide contractors with cost data, not in the form of indices, but in rands and cents. these consulting firms have seen the gap in the market because neither the government, nor the professions, are willing to finance a national cost database such as the building cost information service (bcis) in london. the south african government, using the management oriented procurement method, should develop a system that can be used to increase the participation of specialist subcontractors in the construction project delivery process. materials are also a big cost that needs to be managed effectively by all stakeholders, to ensure that materials are used efficiently on site, so as to reduce waste. it is also important that a building industry price book be instituted by the cidb/dpw to track the trends in building components and material prices. the results of the study provide significant information for planners, estimators, project and construction managers. these data are useful for resource planning and management of construction projects. further studies should seek to determine conclusively whether the cost of cement, reinforcement, timber, bitumen and bricks is related to future levels of construction costs in south africa. acknowledgement this work is based on research supported by the cidb and dpw of south africa. the opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in the research are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the cidb or dpw. references akintoye, a. (2000). analysis of factors influencing project cost estimating practice. construction management and economics, 18(1), 77-89. ashuri, b., & lu, j. (2010). time series analysis of enr construction cost index. journal of construction engineering and management, 136(11), 1227-1237. bureau of economic research. (2016). ber/mfa building costs information service report first quarter 2016. stellenbosch: bureau of economic research/medium-term forecasting associates. chappel, d., cowlin, m., & dunn, d. (2010). building law encyclopaedia. west sussex, united kingdom: wiley-blackwell. compass international consultants inc. (2016). global construction costs 2016. morrisville, pennsylvania: compass international consultants inc. eastham, r. (1986). contractors' perceptions of factors influencing tender prices for construction works. msc thesis, university of salford, department of surveying. lowe, d., emsley, m., & harding, a. (2006). predicting construction cost using multiple regression techniques. journal of construction engineering and management, 132(7), 750-758. ng, s., cheung, s., skitmore, r., lam, k., & wong, l. (2000). prediction of tender price index directional changes. construction management and economics, 18(1). odediran, s., & windapo, a. (2014). systematic review of factors influencing the cost of performance in building projects. in s. laryea, & e. ibem (ed.), 8th construction industry development board (cidb) postgraduate conference, 10-11 february, (pp. 501-520). johannesburg. olatunji, o. (2010). the impact of oil price regimes on construction cost in nigeria. construction management and economics, 28(1), 747-759. sawhney, a., walsh, k., & brown iv, a. (2004). international comparison of cost for the construction sector: towards a conceptual model. civil engineering and environmental systems, 21(3), 151-167. skitmore, m., runeson, g., & chang, x. (2006). construction price formation: full-cost pricing or neoclassical microeconomic theory? construction management and economics, 24(7), 773-783. snyman, g. (n.d). using knowledge of the business cycle to forecast building costs. stellenbosch: building eonomists. 2. 1287 tembo et al.rev jcbm (2023) 6(1) 17-32 an investigation into construction tender price inflation: a documentary review 1moffat tembo, 2charles kahanji and 3erastus misheng’u mwanaumo 1&2department of civil and environmental engineering, university of zambia, zambia. 3college of science, engineering and technology, university of south africa. received 29 october 2022; received in revised form 06 december 2023, 09 february 2023 and 23 apr 2023; accepted 20 may 2023 https://doi.org/10.1564/jcbm.6.2.1287 abstract the essentiality of public infrastructure delivery cannot be over-stressed. however, there is a need to challenge existing practices and poor performance and focus on the value of public infrastructure to attain sustainable improvement in the public construction sector. like many developing countries, zambia’s public construction sector experiences numerous challenges that create a vicious cycle. this research provides a base for further investigations regarding construction tender-price inflation and highlights the urgent need to manage the phenomenon. the data generated by this baseline study is critical to measure the degree and extent of construction tender price change between 2008 and 2018. the multiple-case design allows the study to perform a documentary review and cross-case analysis regarding the tender-price phenomena. the study also adopts a pattern-matching analysis to identify behaviours and practices of case firms regarding construction project implementation. the paper finds inherent project management challenges associated with case firms, including late engagement of supervising consultants, delayed payments, poor contract or project management practices, poor quality of works, a lack of detailed engineering designs, questionable award of contracts, and delayed project implementation. by comparing the construction-project-management approaches of case firms, the study finds that construction tender prices increased by an average of 31.4% per annum for upgrading roads to bituminous standards between 2008 and 2018. in addition, the study finds areas requiring prioritization to address construction tender price inflation include late engagement of supervising consultants, delayed payments, and poor contract or project management practices. other notable factors requiring attention include poor quality of work, lack of detailed engineering designs, delayed project implementation, and questionable contract awards. the study offers a practical implication: addressing tender price inflation adds economic value to public projects and enhances public institutions’ appetite for construction infrastructure development. keywords: construction, public sector, road projects, tender-price inflation. 1. introduction the construction industry’s contribution to economic growth and long-term national development is widely acknowledged (isa, jimoh & achuenu, 2013; lopes, oliveira & abreu, 2011; berk & biçen, 2018; oladinrin, ogunsemi, & aje, 2012; and khan, 2008) mainly to developing countries with the nature of construction industry and its importance in development being critical areas of primary concern (oladinrin et al., 2012; and osei, 2013). elements of the process of construction industry development that include ways and means of improving the performance of construction firms, focusing on contractors, technology development, and the parameters 1 corresponding author email address: tembomoffat@yahoo.com of performance in the industry, such as productivity and environmental performance, are focal points in modern times. these areas of concern influence the formulation of policies and legislation for establishing construction industry management and process re-engineering development models. historically, the construction industry has experienced continuous higher prices, a continued decline in productivity, and extremely high levels of waste. actual socioeconomic needs to deliver a project with higher quality, lower cost, and quickly challenge the traditional way of managing construction projects (soares, 2013). for the benefit of developing countries, it is crucial to investigate the nature, essential university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 18 characteristics, and particular requirements of the construction industry and to use them to develop programs for its improvement. the worldwide chronic problems associated with the construction industry include low productivity, poor safety, inferior working conditions, inadequate financing, and insufficient quality (ramachandra & bamidelerotimi, 2015; proverbs & cheok, 2000). widespread problems in the construction industry in most developing countries also include project cost overruns and schedule delays, which affect the broader and general economy, ranging from poor allocative efficiency to total project abandonment (gbahabo and ajuwon, 2017). wambui, ombui, and kagiri (2015) found that one of the significant factors affecting public-sector construction project completion is the availability of project funds. several solutions relieve these problems in construction, with industrialization, prefabrication, and modularization being one direction of progress. computer-integrated construction is a critical way to reduce fragmentation in construction, which is considered a significant cause of existing problems (nawi, baluch & bahauddin, 2014). other solutions include robotized and automated construction (kamaruddin, mohammad & mahbuba, 2016), closely associated with computer-integrated construction. with several varying answers to the construction industry’s challenges, all the long-standing solutions require developing a tailor-made methodology that constitutes problem identification, redesigning, implementation, and continuous change in the construction industry (shakun & deepa, 2018). higher construction prices have been one of the general challenges in the industry, which require devising methods by clients to control project cost from the onset of the project at the bidding stage (zhang, luo & he, 2015). as contractors develop strategies in pricing for projects, the clients are equally equipping themselves with capabilities to make informed decisions on individual prices (stramarcos & cattell, 2013). to that effect, valence & runeson (n. d.) researched to explore and understand decisive factors and contributory processes involved in pricing decisions by contractors. research findings suggest that awarding construction projects follows a common criterion of price consideration. however, from an investment and project cost perspective, arguments support that tender competitions with a high focus on price by using the lowest bid criterion ironically result in the most expensive project (meland, robertsen & hannas, 2011). like several developing countries, zambia’s public construction sector experiences numerous challenges that create a vicious cycle. the research has identified problems concerning the study country (zambia), including marginal participation of local contractors, particularly on large projects; erratic funding of public infrastructure projects; and a lack of tangible results. others include the multiplier effect in public projects, political interference, and general increases in bid prices (tembo et al., 2020). the essentiality of public infrastructure delivery cannot be over-stressed. however, there is a need to challenge existing practices and poor performance and focus on the value that public infrastructure can deliver to attain sustainable improvement in the public construction sector. this research opines that the situation warrants developing a model that promotes ambitious performance targets in the delivery of public infrastructure by making radical changes to the process of public project delivery. successful construction project implementation requires making the right decisions during the tendering process by tightly managing tender procedures (mohemad, hamdan, othman & noor, 2010). the biggest problem at this point is attempting to execute a process holistically impacted by various factors. some require judgmental projections into future broader markets and specific industry conditions. since the construction industry is massive and highly competitive, the issues of contract pricing have become exceptionally complex matters to address (akintoye and skitmore, 1990). broader economic conditions contribute to fluctuating construction tender prices, which increase expenditure uncertainties for clients who attempt to forecast construction prices in the sector (kissi, adjei-kumi, amoah, & gyimah, 2018). in zambia, negative perceptions of construction tender-price variableness threaten desirable infrastructure push in the public sector. the damaging effects of escalating tender prices outweigh the socioeconomic benefits of such infrastructure. if not addressed, this harmful effect is destructive to construction sector productivity, causing it to lag behind other economic sectors, thereby decreasing the sector’s value in the national economy. this paper addresses the issue regarding higher construction prices and allows for the devising of methods by clients to control project costs from the project’s onset at the bidding stage. the paper correspondingly equips clients with the capabilities to make informed decisions on individual prices. therefore, the study further aims to explore and understand decisive factors and contributory processes involved in tender pricing decisions by contractors. this research aims to provide a base against which to investigate construction tender-price inflation and highlight the urgent need to manage the phenomenon. the data generated by this baseline study is critical to measure the degree and extent of construction tender price change between 2008 and 2018. in this case, the research collates the data from the documentary review and presents a case for further study. however, considering insufficient or incomplete data, the baseline study targets information that is already available, easy to access, and contrast. thus, the study divided the collected data into two major categories relevant to the study to develop its case. these projects include upgrading roads to bituminous standards and periodically maintaining feeder roads. 2. literature review a construction company’s strategy to establish its bid price and win in competitive tenders builds upon an analysis of the economic environment, the expected behaviour of competitors, and the contractor’s capabilities (jaśkowski & czarnigowska, 2019). contractors must ensure that the bid price is high enough to cover various costs, including profits, while being low enough to be tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 19 considered the lowest priced among the competitors by the client. 2.1 the role of tender price in contractor selection in zambia construction-sector uses construction cost indices or tender-price indices for monitoring price movements. it is achieved by measuring relative change over time in the prices of construction materials. cruywagen (2014) argues that the establishment and the composition of the relevant tender price index are influenced by several factors, including the availability of data and selection of items to consider from the bills of quantities. other significant factors include the base year or period selection, choices of weights, and construction method. all these factors begin to affect the accuracy of the index. once established, the index works as a deflator for construction prices. in a free market, the bidder presents an item price uniquely dependent on the construction technique (cattell et al., 2010). historical data must be readily available to predict the bid price, coupled with necessary documentation and processes for adjusting unit costs. underutilization of historical project cost data exacerbates cost control challenges during tendering (zhang, luo, & he, 2015). moreover, using pricing models is challenging for contractors because the models are unnecessarily complicated. even the best-simplified and streamlined models involve the imposition of constants and price limits that are arbitrary and subjective (cattell, bowen, & kaka, 2007). using such arbitrarily chosen values fails to provide a scientific basis by which to construct the optimum price. kissi et al. (2019) hypothesized the existence of a relationship between the different pricing strategies and the factors that influence the pricing of a tender. evaluating bids is through a variety of criteria, but the key shared among the criteria is the total bid price; usually, considerations are that choosing a bidder with the lowest price is most beneficial to the client (jaśkowski & czarnigowska, 2019). jaśkowski and czarnigowska (2019) claim that the public sector is inclined to use the lowest-price bidding or low-bid model to make contract awards due to the perceived monetary benefits of transparency. in contrast, they overlook facts that the practice results in low quality of work, claims, disputes, time overruns, bid rigging, increased costs, unrealistically low price, and collusion. tender price management is the most crucial consideration for bid success; however, due to complex pricing interrelationships, it is much easier to generally express construction project success in terms of cost and budget variance (yismalet & patel, 2018). this trend, over time, has shifted the long-term focus to project cost management processes. in addition, research shows that project success depends on mitigating factors affecting tender pricing at the procurement stage. aje et al. (2016) determined fifteen (15) factors that influenced the success rate of contractors in competitive bidding concerning tender price, which included material availability, labour productivity, and profit as the most significant. these factors significantly influence construction tender price (at tendering stage) and later affect how contractors perform exceptionally. the dilemma with competitive bidding is that the bid price must be low enough to win the bid yet high enough to ensure the contractor’s profitability and reasonably sufficient to guarantee the quality of work. it is when the cost estimation function becomes essential, as it is the basis for most contractors to build their tender price (akintoye & fitzgerald, 2000). it is equally imperative to note that the availability of funds influences the client’s decision to award a contract, the contractor’s price, as well as prices of other contractors— excessively, the parties in construction view construction price through understanding and emphasizing the project cost. hence, related pricing approaches are cost control measures through contracting delivery models. clients resort to employing delivery models such as epc to manage construction prices, which are slightly more regular (zhong, 2011). tender price inflation is a severe problem in zambia’s public construction sector. it is propagated further by a situation in which contractors have become more informed than the client (government). as a result, contractors exaggerate their understanding of cost impacts and take advantage of the disproportionateness in information to skew unit prices in the bids and enhance their profits. contractors do this by increasing the unit price of a quantity expected to go up and lowering the unit price of a quantity expected to decrease. it requires government as a client to optimize trend detection using already-developed models. however, this requires empirical studies that capture the magnitude of the problem in zambia’s context. unbalanced bidding is one potential pitfall of unit price contracting (nyström, 2015). unit price contracting is used in zambia’s public construction sector. it manifests by the client/government paying too much for the final construction product. 2.2 causes of tender-price inflation in construction projects olawale and sun (2010) establish that price inflation is one of the significant factors that affect cost control on a project. there are related factors in the pricing of each item in construction (azizi & aboelmagd, 2019). the main challenges to contractors come with identification methods by measuring the risk rate within an item price loading and achieving the highest profitability while accepting the most negligible risks (azizi & aboelmagd, 2019). another concern when pricing for a bid is that the award of a construction contract depends on the total bid price without considering the variations in the item’s unit price. this scenario leads to contractors deliberately manipulating unit prices (nikpour et al., 2017). furthermore, they argue that price fluctuation and inaccurate estimates were the top variables causing cost overruns on a project. the ability to deploy strategies productively and effectively has a cost-decreasing impact. in the public-construction sector, developing and setting appropriate tender conditions following an in-depth investigation of how the factors affecting pricing mechanisms correlate enhance this ability. when risk factors are uncertain on a project, contractors face the challenge or problem of deciding the bidding price for construction. the existing theoretical tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 20 principles of project risk management lack more realistic considerations such that there is no transparent allocation and reasonable pricing of risks at the project onset (zhang et al., 2006). at tendering stage, one of the main risks for consideration is the financial position of the client in such a manner as being unable to pay the contractor on time: a scenario often leading to project delays and wrong cost estimations (naji & ali, 2017). the failure of a construction firm to fully consider or estimate the risk event on a construction project could have a disastrous impact. construction enterprises are mindful of this scenario, and due to a lack of appropriate knowledge on risk pricing and mitigation measures, they often subsequently overestimate their markups. it causes construction prices to escalate over time. laryea & hughes (2008) establish no evidence suggesting that construction project pricing is systematic. therefore, they doubt the justification of pricing models for contractors as their final price depends on a varying range of complex microeconomic indicators and risk factors. the argument is on efficient pricing for risk while encountering and estimating various contingencies. contractors remain aware of the nature of the construction industry in which all competitors are “hungry for a job” such that if they were to consider and price for all realistic contingencies, they would remain uncompetitive. table 1 shows some of the risk factors that contractors must contend with during pricing for a bid. paek & lee (1993) propose a risk pricing method for analyzing and pricing construction projects, which consists of identifying risk factors and pricing for their consequences. they suggest using a fuzzy set approach to quantify and directly incorporate the implications into the bid price. they adopt a fuzzy set theory to present a riskbased pricing algorithm and computer-based software. however, since the selection of risk factors is project specific, the algorithm could not formulate generalizations. therefore, it is advisable to ensure that all risk elements whose consequences might fatally flaw the project identification are accordingly priced for during the tendering phase (paek & lee, 1993). however, laryea & hughes (2008) argue that most models and pricing methods are desk-based and lack knowledge of what contractors do during the bid pricing stage. table 1 risk-related factors during pricing in construction s/n risk factor(s) author 1 value of liquidated damages towner & baccarini (2012) 2 clients’ financial state naji & ali (2017) 3 project cost risk (range between 2.7% and 8.7% of project cost) xu (2014), brokbals, et al. (2019) 4 technical information or detailed specifications nketekete, et al. (2016) 5 practical knowledge of the construction process akintoye & fitzgerald (2000) 6 contractor size dulaimi & shan (2002) 7 market competition laryea & hughes (2008) 8 contingency additions dada & jagboro (2007) 9 apportionment of contractual responsibilities al-ajmi & makinde (2018) • material availability • labour productivity aje et al. (2016) 10 project scope dziadosz, et al. (2015) 2.3 tender selection process in zambia literature shows that the zambian public sector uses the lowest bid selection method. the government’s primary concern during tendering is controlling production costs and quality when using the lowest bid method, while even the lowest bidder is concerned about securing their profit. eger and guo (2008, p.290) argued that this process leads to tensions between the parties during execution due to asymmetric information, which involves “the problems of moral hazard and adverse selection.” when a project suffers from both adverse selection and dynamic moral hazard, the likelihood of its success depends on the amount of work completed by the contractor. as a result, “firms can siphon a portion of the funds intended for the project and use the rest to create an illusion of productivity” because inefficient firms bid to siphon and create unnecessary-unproductive competition for efficient firms (johnson, 2013, p.1). the lowest bid method does not enable public construction administrators to select the most qualified contractor. “choosing a contractor based on the lowest bid alone is inadequate and may lead to the project’s failure in terms of time delay and poor-quality standards” (alptekin, o. and alptekin, n., 2017, p.1). 3. methodology this study aims to define the behaviour of construction tender prices and determine the focus of corrective priorities. the study utilizes a directed content analysis of documents from single-case research to offer more compelling evidence and a robust data set (sanda et al., 2021; rose et al., 2015). numerous construction-related studies, such as letza (1996), moatazed-keivani, et al. (1999), gyi et al. (1998), barrett et al. (2005), barlow & jashapara (1998), and gibb (2001) adopted the case study approach for various purposes. the single-case design adopted (fig. 1) allowed the study to analyze the tender price phenomena. the study establishes practices and behaviours surrounding project implementation in the case firms without depending on the interviewee’s personal experiences and biases. therefore, detailed historical records were the best alternative to obtaining accurate behaviours and practices. tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 21 the institution reviewed is the road development agency under the ministry of infrastructure, housing and urban development (mihud). within the ministry of infrastructure, housing and urban development (mihud), the study focused on road infrastructure works under the road development agency (rda). the reasons for choosing the firm included: 1. its mandate with road infrastructure provision in zambia 2. provision of detailed annual reports 3. readily available audit reports 4. on easily obtainable road lengths 5. the already classified system regarding interventions on roads (unpaved. paved, gravel, upgrading, maintenance, rehabilitation) 6. the already classified system, the gazette (urban, feeder, main, and trunk roads). figure. 1: study research procedure and methods the research utilizes a documentary review (table 3) of the circumstances surrounding project implementation in case firms. using a multiple-case study approach, the study holistically investigates project management behaviours and practices adopted by case firms between 2008 and 2018. the study employs a qualitative data analysis approach to construction projects within the case firm to develop averages of construction firms by examining various annual and audit reports. the analysis consists of directed, summative, and conventional content analysis. based on existing information, the study identified 97 road construction projects from the case firm in directed content analysis. table 2. details of the case firms and case project case firm main project types scope intervention mihud/rda paved roads – main, trunk, urban, and district roads infrastructure design and construction upgrading to bituminous standards the inquiry utilizes a conventional content analysis to identify project categories that comprised upgrading roads to bituminous standards and periodic maintenance of feeder roads. the study develops two coding categories of length and tender price at this analysis stage. afterward, the investigation examines contracts based on these coding categories. the study adopts a summative analytical design to calculate averages and draw comparisons with macroeconomic trend lines. due to limited literature, the design is appropriate in determining works of similar nature, type of intervention, and scope (yin, 2009). table 3. list of documents reviewed institution list of documents reviewed number of contracts reviewed mihud/rda • annual reports (2013-2018) 7 • final audit report (2008) 3 • final audit report (2012-2015) 4 • 2008 rda-pac report 1 • contracts 92 tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 22 the baseline study adopts the “before-and-after” activity method of measuring the change in tender prices across the study period. the comparisons include drawing out averages of tender price per kilometre of specific road categories per year, then contrasting to the preceding years to develop a trend line analysis. this analysis forms the basis for observing rises and falls in tender prices as part of the assessment of price inflation. the study achieves this by measuring the shift in tender prices for similar construction works or projects over time in the exact activity location (zambia). the study focuses on a documentary review for replicability of the collected data, if necessary, for subsequent evaluations. this approach is critical in providing the minimum information required to assess and ascertain the reality or representativeness of construction tender-price inflation. 4. findings the study adopted a pattern-matching analysis to identify behaviours and practices of case firms regarding construction project implementation. by comparing construction-project management approaches of case firms, the study described in table 4 provides an overall understanding concerning the implementation of project management and inherent contributing causes to tenderprice inflation. the table indicates issues requiring prioritization, including late engagement of supervising consultant at 13.5%, ranked one, and delayed payments at 12.9%, ranked 2. others are poor contract or project management practices at 11.9%, ranked 3; poor quality of works at 10.3%, ranked 4. lack of detailed engineering designs at 8% ranked 5, questionable contract award at 7.1% ranked sixth, and delayed project implementation at 6.8%. table 4 circumstances surrounding construction-management practices (2006-2020) observed challenges frequency percentage (%) rank late engagement of supervising consultant 42 13.5 1 delayed payments 40 12.9 2 poor contract or project management 37 11.9 3 poor quality of work 32 10.3 4 lack of detailed engineering design 25 8.0 5 excessive and questionable variations 22 7.1 6 delayed project implementation 21 6.8 7 questionable award of contract 17 5.5 9 non-adherence to procurement procedures 16 5.1 10 overpayment on claims 10 3.2 11 failure to provide/renew contract bonds/guarantees 10 3.2 12 interest claims 9 2.9 13 unjustified single-sourcing 8 2.6 14 poor quality materials 6 1.9 15 lack of equipment 5 1.6 16 questionable and uncompetitive rates 4 1.3 17 inadequate budget provision 4 1.3 18 irregular contract documents 1 0.3 19 over procurement 1 0.3 20 inconsistent application of evaluation criteria 1 0.3 21 (source: data from auditor-general, 2015; nrfa, 2022; pac, 2009). table 4 presents significant factors affecting construction tender pricing development as observed from the documentary review. the study lists 21 factors under this category. the study graphed information gathered in table 4 into a pareto chart in figure 2 to indicate the frequency of a challenge and its cumulative impact. it helps find areas to prioritize interventions for the most significant overall effect. the chart suggests areas requiring prioritization include late engagement of supervising consultants, delayed payments, poor contract or project management practices, poor quality of work, a lack of detailed engineering designs, delayed project implementation, and questionable contract awards. the study further identifies general features of construction projects in the case of firms by analyzing tender pricing behaviours. consequently, the study employed a deductive development approach to develop specific annual tender pricing averages (table 5). tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 23 figure 2: pareto chart highlighting main challenges regarding construction tender-price inflation figure 2 indicates areas requiring prioritization, including late engagement of supervising consultant, delayed payments, poor contract or project management practices, poor quality of work, a lack of detailed engineering designs, delayed project implementation, and questionable contract award. the results show a steady increase in construction tender prices between 2008 and 2018. the study reviewed 92 contracts (n=92) for upgrading to bituminous standards between 2008 and 2018 (see table 5). for upgrading roads to bituminous standards, construction tender prices increased from an average of zmw1,438,825.8/km in 2008 to an average of zmw14,395,749.5/km in 2018. table 5 shows average construction tender prices for upgrading roads to bituminous standards. the results show a steady increase in construction tender prices between 2008 and 2018. for upgrading roads to bituminous standards, construction tender prices increased from zmw1,438,825.83/km in 2008 to an average of zmw14,395,749.54/km in 2018 (n=92). an example of calculation for the standards in table 5 is as follows: for 2010: for tender-price-code: average tender–price: (33,397,491+80,002,657+101,286,041+47,562,388)÷4 = zmw65,562,144 for-length-code; average length: (23.5+65+50+52.4)÷4 = 47.725km therefore, construction tender-price/km: 65,562,144 ÷47.725= zmw 1,373,748.44/km figure 3, a graphical representation of the observations in table 5, compares the construction tender price incremental behaviour with each passing year. the observations indicate a positive upward trend, with tender prices steadily rising during the period under review between 2008 and 2018. this behaviour is observable from the sampled contracts, as not all were readily available for review. figure 3 aggregates values of construction tender prices for the stated year. from the analysis, the average construction tender price from four observed contracts in 2008 is zmw1,438,857.72/km. the highest increment was in 2011 when tender prices rose by 95.4%. the observations indicate that decreases of -24.5% in 2010 were the lowest during the period under review. this value increased by 71.3% in 2012 to zmw4,599,107.96/km. the incremental trend continued by another 2% in 2013 to at least zmw4,690,770.68/km. the study calculates the average construction tender-price increase over this period to be at least 31.4%. at the same time, the macroeconomic indicators (independent variables) are observed to increase minimally at 3.3% (interest rates), 11.8% (forex), 2.6% (inflation rate), and 8.9% (fdi) apart from external government debt that is observed to increase by 45.1%. figure 3: average construction tender prices for upgrading roads to bituminous standards la te … d el ay ed … po or … po or … la ck o f … ex ce ss iv e … d el ay ed … q ue st io na … n on -… o ve rp ay m … fa ilu re to … u nj us ti fie … po or … la ck o f … in ad eq ua t… q ue st io na … o ve r … in co ns is te … ir re gu la r … 0 10 20 30 40 50 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% circumstances surrounding failure to mitigate tender-price inflation 1 438 825,831 811 932,231 373 748,44 2 684 805,09 4 599 107,964 690 770,684 260 340,59 6 874 454,987 053 690,93 8 706 679,83 14 395 749,54 0,00 2 000 000,00 4 000 000,00 6 000 000,00 8 000 000,00 10 000 000,00 12 000 000,00 14 000 000,00 16 000 000,00 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 te n d er -p ri ce year c o n s t r u c t i o n t e n d e r p r i c e s f o r b i t u m i n o u s r o a d s tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 24 table 5. construction tender-prices for upgrading roads to bituminous standard (2008-2018) year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 km tender price km tender price km tender price km tender price km tender price km tender price 14.4 14,143,540 52.4 47,562,388 23.5 33,397,491 90 213,805,420 402 1,797,195,724.20 54 221,212,397 45 77,741,065 104 290,063,867 65 80,002,657 14.6 59,004,963 43.8 242,296,469.00 48.5 205,807,776 73.19 90,097,344 96 192,695,237 50 101,286,041 171.9 180,000,000 14.6 59,004,963.00 16 208,241,515 17.78 34,379,087 225 319,160,884 52.4 47,562,388 131.5 707,400,000 64 290,287,688.00 91 314,958,672 82 164,112,515 171 421,706,455 34.47 165,827,800.00 45.5 561,813,606 7 11,491,187 86 371,478,276.00 27.32 139,270,689 131.5 332,939,624 115 466,731,196.00 65 175,787,988 40 118,441,534.00 100 295,906,766 70 278,824,387.00 158 385,583,452 175 1,067,928,906.52 114 361,187,528 15 72,236,835.00 105 529,047,639 14.1 61,562,946.64 90 856,110,428 22.6 51,427,095.02 18 118,370,863.31 average 37.5925 54,090,259 111.88 202,718,978 47.725 65,562,144 102.5 275,192,521 84.35154 387,941,832 71.71692 336,407,640 zmw/km 1,438,857.72 1,811,932.23 1,373,748.44 2,684,805.09 4,599,107.96 4,690,770.68 year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 km tender price km tender price km tender price km tender price km tender price 98 690,958,848 84 585,556,978.00 270 2,061,451,626.00 85 959, 189,051.33 220 4,205,527,260.00 8 41,999,823 84 417,108,471.00 109 546,877,969.00 257 1,839,580,493.66 179 3,994,919,827.00 111.2 285,886,120 5 57,014,787.00 69.9 282,394,736.00 25.63 294,310,644.73 258 3,994,919,827.00 94 264,798,761 56 417,108,471.29 78.2 291,105,602.00 103 784,279,480.62 118 429,962,249 84 585,556,977.51 58.2 529,938,197.00 107 713,664,926.91 93 396,624,924 83.9 367,218,609.29 194 1,695,918,648.00 88.3 1,162,942,884.00 90 332,824,438 82 631,194,336.31 112 607,349,167.00 4 32,078,862.69 71 229,969,700 15 123,936,213.56 10.65 160,270,962.37 95 289,105,667.00 107.5 592,500,000 20.2 123,142,060.36 9.37 108,575,278.37 115.7 500,040,614 11.4 109,660,183.91 15.04 250,374,945.86 113 439,062,227 9.27 115,405,395.11 117 540,831,955 20.5 220,867,715.90 17 168417173 9.6 129,403,184.05 average 88.72308 377,990,526 43.45154 298,705,644.87 92.636 653,425,713.16 122.5433 1066945569 131.7875 1,897,179,841.90 zmw/km 4,260,340.59 6,874,454.98 7,053,690.93 8,706,679.83 14,395,749.54 tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 25 table 6. correlation between macroeconomic indicators and tender prices for upgrading of roads to bituminous standards year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 averages coefficient ( r ) pearson’s comment tender-price (zmw’million/km) 1.438826 1.811932 1.373748 2.684805 4.59911 4.690771 4.260341 6.87446 7.053691 8.7066798 14.39575 5.262734 forex rates 4.2 4.9 4.8 7.3 5.14 5.39 6.15 8.63 10.31 9.54 10.45 6.98 0.84 strongly positive inflation rates 12.5 13.4 8.5 8.7 6.6 7 7.8 10 18.2 6.6 7.5 9.71 -0.18 no correlation interest rates 19.1 22.1 20.9 18.8 19.1 16.3 18.7 21.1 28.1 26.9 24 21.37 0.54 moderately positive fdi (us $ ‘bn) 0.94 0.69 1.73 1.11 1.73 2.1 1.51 1.58 0.66 1.11 0.41 1.23 -0.39 weakly negative external debt (us $ ‘bn) 0.91 2.25 1.72 1.68 0.92 2.13 5.02 8.08 9.21 12.45 12.1 5.13 0.88 strongly positive % change (forex) 0 16.7 -2.0 52.1 -29.6 4.9 14.1 40.3 19.5 -7.5 9.5 +11.8% % change (inflation) 0 7.2 -36.6 2.4 -24.1 6.1 11.4 28.2 82.0 -63.7 13.6 +2.6% % change (interest) 0 15.7 -5.4 -10.0 1.6 -14.7 14.7 12.8 33.2 -4.3 -10.8 +3.3% % change (fdi) 0 -26.6 150.7 -35.8 55.9 21.4 -28.1 4.6 -58.2 68.2 -63.1 +8.9% % change (debt) 0 147.3 -23.6 -2.3 -45.2 131.5 135.7 61.0 14.0 35.2 -2.8 +45.1% % change(tender-price) 0 25.9 -24.2 95.4 71.3 2.0 -9.2 61.4 2.6 23.4 65.3 +31.4% tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 26 the results in table 6 indicate an average percentage increment per annum of 31.4% of construction tender prices for upgrading roads to bituminous standards between 2008 and 2018. it shows a tender price increment of 900.52% over the ten years under review. figure 3 shows that construction tender prices increased for upgrading roads to bituminous standards from zmw1,438,825.83/km in 2008 to an average of zmw14,395,749.54/km in 2018. construction tender prices increased by an average of 31.4% per annum for upgrading roads to bituminous standards between 2008 and 2018. for paved roads, construction tender prices increased by zmw12,956,923.7/km from zmw1,438,825.8/km in 2008 to zmw14,395,749.5/km in 2018. the data confirms a positive trend line or the steady increase in construction tender prices in the period (2008-2018). moreover, results show a positive correlation between construction tender prices to foreign exchange rates (0.84), commercial interest rates (0.54), and external debt stock (0.88) (trading-economics, 2022). however, there is a negative correlation between construction tender prices and foreign direct investment of -0.39. at the same time, the results show a lack of correlation between construction tender prices and an inflation rate of -0.18. the correlation sign defines relationship direction such that a positive signal on the exchange rate correlation coefficient means that construction tender prices increase as the exchange rate value increases: and as it decreases, tender prices drop. it means that the variables change together in the same direction. at the same time, the correlation coefficient’s absolute value indicates the correlation’s magnitude such that the smaller the final value, the weaker the correlation. table 7. summary of variables year tender-price (zmw’million/km) forex rates inflation rates interest rates fdi (us $ ‘bn) external debt (us $ ‘bn) 2008 1.438825829 4.2 12.5 19.1 0.94 0.91 2009 1.811932233 4.9 13.4 22.1 0.69 2.25 2010 1.373748439 4.8 8.5 20.9 1.73 1.72 2011 2.684805086 7.3 8.7 18.8 1.11 1.68 2012 4.599107964 5.14 6.6 19.1 1.73 0.92 2013 4.690770679 5.39 7 16.3 2.1 2.13 2014 4.260340586 6.15 7.8 18.7 1.51 5.02 2015 6.874454978 8.63 10 21.1 1.58 8.08 2016 7.053690932 10.31 18.2 28.1 0.66 9.21 2017 8.706679835 9.54 6.6 26.9 1.11 12.45 2018 14.39574954 10.45 7.5 24 0.41 12.1 mean 5.263 6.9827 9.709 21.373 1.2336 5.1336 std. deviation 3.888 2.36470 3.6231 3.6519 0.53474 4.51533 valid n (listwise) = 11 table 7 summarizes the variables used in multinomial regression analysis. the variable values are annual averages, which may affect the significance and prediction level of the model. however, the investigation is in accordance and appropriate with regression model development. table 7 presents averaged values for the stated variables. the second row, ‘tender-price,’ represents averages per annum of total tender prices divided by the entire length of contracts reviewed in each particular year. other rows represent annual variable values as obtained from documentary reviews as well. the analysis presents respective means and standard deviations for all 11 valid observations. table 8 shows that out of all variables entered. the analysis considered all variables and removed no during the regression analysis. table 8. model variables model variables entered variables removed method 1 external debt (us $ ‘bn), inflation rates, fdi (us $ ‘bn), interest rates, forex rates . enter a. dependent variable: tender-price (zmw’million/km) tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 27 table 9. correlations of variables tender-price (zmw’million/km) forex rates inflation rates interest rates fdi (us $ ‘bn) external debt (us $ ‘bn) tender-price (zmw’million/km) pearson correlation 1 .844** -.183 .538 -.391 .876** sig. (2-tailed) .001 .590 .088 .234 .000 n 11 11 11 11 11 11 forex rates pearson correlation .844** 1 .136 .749** -.491 .918** sig. (2-tailed) .001 .691 .008 .125 .000 n 11 11 11 11 11 11 inflation rates pearson correlation -.183 .136 1 .449 -.531 .024 sig. (2-tailed) .590 .691 .165 .093 .944 n 11 11 11 11 11 11 interest rates pearson correlation .538 .749** .449 1 -.651* .779** sig. (2-tailed) .088 .008 .165 .030 .005 n 11 11 11 11 11 11 fdi (us $ ‘bn) pearson correlation -.391 -.491 -.531 -.651* 1 -.462 sig. (2-tailed) .234 .125 .093 .030 .153 n 11 11 11 11 11 11 external debt (us $ ‘bn) pearson correlation .876** .918** .024 .779** -.462 1 sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .944 .005 .153 n 11 11 11 11 11 11 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). the correlation between construction tender prices and macroeconomic indicators such as external debt and foreign exchange rate is +0.876 and +0.844, respectively, indicating both strong and positive (table 9). the p-value results from a 2-tailed test significance are zero, thus p<0.005. it means that the two variables are significantly positive. therefore, higher foreign exchange rates and government debt levels are strongly associated with higher construction tender prices. table 10 indicates an r-squared value of 0.742. the variance of the macroeconomic indicators under study defines at least 74.2% of the construction tender-price variance. table 10 model summary model r r square adjusted r square std. error of the estimate 1 0.933a 0.871 0.742 1.9739 a. predictors: (constant), external debt (us $ ‘bn), inflation rates, fdi (us $ ‘bn), interest rates, forex rates table 11 analysis of variance model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 131.670 5 26.334 6.759 0.028b residual 19.480 5 3.896 total 151.150 10 a. dependent variable: tender-price (zmw’million/km) b. predictors: (constant), external debt (us $ ‘bn), inflation rates, fdi (us $ ‘bn), interest rates, forex rates the analysis of variance (anova) summarizes information regarding multiple correlations to test the significance of the model regarding the extent to which asset of macroeconomic indicators (independent variables) predict construction tender prices (table 11). the null hypothesis states that macroeconomic indicators are not significantly related to construction tender prices. the sig. column represents the p-value for the test of significance of the model. since p<0.05 for a p-value of 0.028, we conclude that the indicator variables are significantly related to construction tender prices. the other columns provide the detail from which the p-value is determined. the sum of squares for regression (26.334) is the mean of the square for regression. the sum of squares labelled residual (19.480) is the sum of differences between the predicted values and the actual values of y, which is the sum of squared deviations of the data around the regression line. the square root of the variance of residuals, 3.896, is 1.974, which is the standard error of the estimate. to estimate the regression equation, the coefficients table, table 12 presents the least squares estimates of the tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 28 intercept and slope of the regression line. five values of regression weights (b, 0.638, -0.241, -0.334, -1.561, 0.577) are listed in column headed b, while the regression intercept is (a, 9.255). respectively, the equation of the least squares is the therefore: y=9.255+0.638x₁-0.241x₂ 0.334x₃-1.561x₄ +0.577x₅. in which x1 = forex rates, x2 = inflation rate, x3 = interest rates, x4 = fdi and x5 = government debt. the negative sign of the regression coefficients (on inflation rates, interest rates, and fdi) indicates negative correlations between each indicator variable and construction tender price. positive coefficients regarding forex rates and government debt indicate that as their values increase, the mean of the construction tender price also tends to increase. on the other hand, the p-values in the sig. column of table 12 is much greater than the significance level of 0.05. it indicates insufficient evidence in the data set sample to conclude that a non-zero correlation exists between independent and dependent variables. keeping variables that are not statistically significant thereby reduces the precision of the model. considering all other model-fit criteria, this finding may create a possibility of either type i or type ii statistical error that could lead to a false rejection or acceptance of the null hypothesis. increasing the sample size would address the risk of encountering type i and type ii statistical errors. larger sample sizes allow the stud to increase the significance level of the findings as higher sample sizes have a higher possibility of accurately mirroring the population’s behaviour. the research suggests using more samples to draw out the model since the regression line appears not flat and many points fall within. the correlations of some variables are not small (r = 0.876, r =0.538, and r = 8.44) and significant (p = 0.000 and p = 0001), and more than 70% variability is attributable to macroeconomic indicators. therefore, the study argues that there is significance in predicting construction tender prices from macroeconomic indicators. areas requiring prioritization when addressing construction tender-price inflation include late engagement of supervising consultants, delayed payments, and poor contract or project management practices. others include poor quality of work, lack of detailed engineering designs, delayed project implementation, and questionable contract awards. figure 4 of the study presents a continuously improving construction-tender price management process developed through a relevant literature review on the subject matter. the study argues that the process includes at least five separate steps: 1. step 1: involves identifying all factors affecting construction-bidding price. this step starts from identifying predetermined objectives of bidders to existing economic conditions at a particular time. this step allows an institution to develop an understanding of both internal and external factors. 2. step 2: this step draws down the most significant project-specific risk-pricing factors, which according to (baccarini, 2012), may include the type of contract, type of procurement method used, value of liquidated damages, completeness of documentation, and current workload. 3. step 3: involves deriving cost-per-unit information for setting prices to generate profits adequately. this step allows the bidder or client to derive variable and fixed costs. during this step, oberholzer & ziemerink (2004) perfectly underscores the significance of the “high-low method” in determining cost levels. consideration of direct material costs, greater-volume discounts, and additional capacity constitute prudent choices. 4. step 4: literature findings by laryea (2018) and ekung et al. (2013) best prescribe essential issues of concern regarding this step to include flexibility, quality requirements, payment certainty, pricecompetition, problems of autonomy and responsibility, dispute resolution procedures and project duration. 5. step 5: this requires a government economic policy of imposing floors (minimums) and ceilings (maximums) to public construction prices at both materials and services levels to make them affordable and reflective. a study by majumdar (2003) discusses this step in detail and proposes using and adopting price controls as incentive mechanisms to achieve social-economic benefits. table 12 regression coefficients model unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients t sig. 95.0% confidence interval for b b std. error beta lower bound upper bound 1 (constant) 9.255 8.105 1.142 .305 -11.581 30.091 forex rates 0.638 0.699 0.388 0.913 .403 -1.158 2.435 inflation rates -0.241 0.262 -0.225 -.920 .400 -.915 .433 interest rates -0.334 0.385 -0.314 -.868 .425 -1.325 .656 fdi (us $'bn) -1.561 1.661 -0.215 -.940 .390 -5.831 2.709 external debt (us $ ‘bn) 0.577 0.447 0.670 1.290 .253 -.573 1.727 a. dependent variable: tender-price (zmw’million/km) tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 29 fig. 4: construction-price management process (by the authors: based on previous studies by paek & lee, 1993: 743-756; gudienė et al., 2013: 392 – 397) 5. discussion of findings the results suggest inherent poor project management practices in the zambian public construction sector, constituting process need areas within case firms that could benefit from implementing strategic planning. it implies a need to identify and manage country-specific factors affecting construction infrastructure management and weaving together country-specific strategies for addressing tender-price variability and perceived overpricing. occurrences of late engagement of supervising consultants indicate management negligence and a lack of strategic planning. it also confirms the existence of interference and indecision by top management. the study demonstrates that least-price bidding does not ensure maximum value in construction. therefore, evaluating bids solely based on the lowest-bid system creates challenges in achieving a value-based procurement system. khan and khan (2015) found the lowest-bid procurement approach to be undesirable due to; “inferior quality of constructed facilities, high incidence of claims and litigation, and frequent cost and schedule overruns.” results in table 4 confirm the existence of cost and schedule overruns. the study finds excessive and questionable variations in implementing projects in the zambian context. an optimal bid price is significant in winning a construction contract. however, wang et al. (2012) affirm that making accurate pricing in a bid is enormously expensive and time-consuming. hence, contractors determine the bid price by maximizing expected profit while assessing the probability of winning, underlying conditions on bid items, client characteristics, and competition level. table 4 highlights the dangers of this simplified approach to bidding as it leads to questionable and uncompetitive rates. the trend contributes highly to price volatility and uncertainty. price volatility is a significant risk in construction projects (abdulrazaq, 2017). every construction industry is unique and thus requires the development of industry-specific strategies to address price volatility. abdulrazaq (2017) argues that managing price volatility must ensure the “inclusion of price adjustment clauses, fast track and lean project delivery method, risk management method, contingencies, early procurement method, and use of price cap contract and use of ict.” second, poor-quality projects confirm inadequacies in detecting contractor malpractices at the procurement stage. unbalance pricing strategies are illegal methods that reduce the client’s position and contractors’ incentive to complete the project as they lose their financial motivation. research regarding unbalanced bidding dates back to 1959 when martin gates proposed an alternative model to the then-balanced model by friedman (1956). these unbalanced pricing strategies usually result in client overpayment on the project as contractors aim to increase profit and cash flow (nikpour et al., 2017). nikpour et al. (2017) found that unbalanced pricing methods are challenging to detect, posing significant consequences on the client’s cost liability of implementing a project. unbalanced bidding hurts competition by getting rid of genuine bidders by placing extremely low bids. low-priced bids may earn the contractor huge profits. there are models capable of identifying a combination of item prices to generate high profit for the contractor at the client’s and the project’s expense. on the other hand, should they turn negative, they put the client under a significant financial burden by challenging the economic stability of the project through poor quality work and increased corruption (prajapati & bhavsar, 2017: 159). in agreement, this study establishes significant procurementrelated challenges, including the questionable award of contracts, non-adherence to procurement procedures, unjustified single sourcing, over-procurement, inconsistent application of evaluation criteria, and irregular contract documents. the study further argues that these factors significantly influence construction tender-prices development. in table 5 and table 7, the study finds that, on average, construction tender prices increased by an average of 31.4% per annum for upgrading roads to bituminous standards between 2008 and 2018. third, delayed payments confirm a lack of financial planning, ring-fencing practices, and benchmarking due to poor utilization of technology and record-keeping on other projects (table 4). initiating procurement quality controls generate improved competitiveness from a price viewpoint through the value-added competencies of the procurement function. in construction, procurement quality controls allow for significantly high procurement performance leading to the best possible price to meet the client’s needs (munyimi, 2019). however, procurement functions in the public face numerous challenges. extraordinary challenges include a significant lack of empirical research on the impact of public procurement tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 30 systems on price or cost levels in the construction sector. gray et al. (2020) argue that current procurement decisions are too focused on cost minimization at the expense of stakeholder value. they propose a new approach known as “total value contribution” as an extension of “total cost of ownership” methods that broaden the factors during a procurement exercise. they argue that putting value first through procurement would increase organizational outcomes. fourth, the lack of detailed engineering designs and questionable project awards are evidenced by increased project costs during construction via variations (table 4 and figure 2). an evaluation of literature findings shows the complexities of establishing adequate controls for managing construction-tender pricing. nový et al. (2016) argue that a precise determination of construction-tender price is essential for project success. however, the process is tedious and insists on developing correct tools for pricing based on the specific situation and detailed designs for the project. literature relating to investigations into factors affecting tender-price determination in construction, current tender price controls in practice, and effects of public procurement warrants a particular focus on how contractors’ price for construction at tendering and highlighting significant riskrelated factors. however, a lot of research explores project risk-related issues from a project implementation perspective, thereby ignoring the implementation of procurement strategies that consider price reduction implications at the tender stage. the trend leads to the development of contract delivery models that inadequately address the potential value of pricing in construction projects and fail to establish possible strategies to overcome overpricing. 7. conclusion the impact resulting from rising prices in the construction industry establishes matters of principle applicable to sustainable development and the general economics of the country. the government requires the development of practical policies that could significantly curtail construction prices while incentivizing the public construction sector by establishing a more rational tender pricing system that meets all stakeholders’ needs. in developing countries like zambia, governments emphasize the cost of construction projects and the price of construction contracts. one of the principal achievements in that regard has been implementing the lowest bid selection/or procurement approaches. however, the client’s attitude towards cost-benefit analysis remains an important influence on whether a project comes with an acceptable price tag. in this regard, construction price is critical in delivering public-sector construction projects. construction tender overpricing is a commonplace practice contributing to tender price inflation and variability during the procurement phase of public sector projects. the building process itself is uncertain, particularly concerning ground conditions. construction tender-price inflation reduces public investments’ effectiveness and requires governments to raise additional finance to execute a similar quantum of private construction works. this negatively affects the general economy as public works contract overpricing diverts funds from other projects. developing nations such as zambia fund additional construction overpricing from reserves or borrowed funds to meet their planned developmental obligations. in extreme cases, this may lead to the contraction of enormous domestic and foreign debts. therefore, construction overpricing is a significant problem for developing nations and construction sectors. it is a source of political disagreements, frustrates project intentions, and strains public confidence. therefore, preventing construction overpricing is a crucial objective during contracting construction projects. 7.1 recommendations this study recommends further investigations into common causes of overpricing on public sector projects. the inquiry should include a detailed analysis examining how contractors prioritize projects and identifying critical factors preventing construction project overpricing. considering that there are various solutions to the construction industry’s challenges, the long-standing solutions require developing a tailor-made methodology that constitutes problem identification, redesigning, implementation, and continual change in the processes in the construction industry. thus, there is a need to provide a model that proposes a collective practical solution to eminent and country-specific construction sector challenges. the study recommends designing a tailor-made industry-specific model prescribing a country-specific key to improving tender prices. it entails the government identifying country-specific factors affecting tender prices to develop a better-managed and more controlled tender–price inflation model. 7.2 limitations the lack of detailed project data from the case firm led to the use of limited factors such as length and tendered prices only. more specific information regarding road width; layer thickness; loading capacity; number and type of culverts; number and type of bridges are required. it would have permitted better project categorization for analyzing more similar projects and improved model prediction significantly. however, the study took caution in using such available data to successfully demonstrate the model’s operational principles. tembo moffat et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2023) 6(1). 17-32 31 references abdulrazaq, m. 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(2011). study on cost management under epc general contracting model. advanced materials research, 181, 49-53. jcbm (2019) 3(2). 35-48 a state legitimation approach of reserved built environment professional work a case for south africa – part 1 t. e. manchidi1, p.d. rwelamila2 1& 2 graduate school of business leadership, university of south africa, south africa. received 11 april 2019; received in revised form 21 may 2019, 2 july 2019; accepted 15 july 2019 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm. 3.2.740 abstract this paper borrows from the lenses of the sociology of professions, sociology of science, temporary project organisations and construction reform to examine state legitimation of reserved built environment (be) professional work as the first part of a two-part study. in doing so, it examines the growth of professions as a consequence of the division of expert labour evolving to fill in knowledge gaps created by emergent social forces as other knowledge areas are rendered less relevant. it shows how be professional work negatively impacts on the delivery efficiencies in the project as a temporary organisation. in making this argument, it draws on the jurisdictional theory of professions to illustrate the relational and interactional relationship of professions in construction projects. to help focus on collaboration, a preliminary conceptual model for the legitimation of professions at the macro (policy) level is developed to explain how boundary margins keep professions relational, and how the dynamics of boundary work unfold in a territorial space in a project (meso) environment. finally, it provides the scope of the second part of the study (the field study) by formulating the main research objective and research question and their respective specific research objectives and research questions, respectively. keywords: built environment professions, division of expert labour, jurisdictional boundaries, legitimation, professional work, temporary organisations 1. introduction construction industries (cis) around the world, relative to other industries, face problems of inefficiency, ineffectiveness and sub-optimal performance. improvement in the performance of the cis that delivers infrastructure and facilities that forms the built environment is crucial for social and economic development, and environmental protection, especially in developing countries (wef 2016; gann and salter 2000). in response, there has been calls for bold action for over half a century by governments, multilateral agencies; and other stakeholders, focusing on to improving construction productivity, quality of products and services, innovation; and reversing the negative trajectory facing the ci (fox, 2003, ofori, 2011, hermans, van zoest, and volker, 2016). built environment professions (beps), as one of the significant constituents in the ci, deserve consideration, 1 corresponding author. email address: eric@pdconsulting.co.za as they temporarily collaborate and integrate their specialised knowledge in the delivery of projects (d'amour and oandasan 2005; mcmurtry 2013). they provide vital specialised knowledge and technical skills that are used in the planning, design, construction supervision, maintenance and eventual disposal of assets in the be (ampofo-anti, 2007). however, questions have been raised as to the role of the beps in the poor performance of the ci. for example, eccles (2009:68) queried "…whether they are part of the industry's economic problems". such a question is not uncommon when addressing the role of any other professions. equally, dingwall and fenn (1987: 51) asked: are these occupations monopolies whose anticompetitive effects distort the social and economic organisation of a society or are they institutions which have developed for reasons of public interest and are, therefore, worthy of preservation? the process of transforming from occupations to professions is referred to as university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm--------mailto:eric@pdconsulting.co.za 36 t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 professionalisation, and this reflects ‘how modern societies institutionalize expertise' (abbott, 1988; evetts, 2012). various theories of professions, as shown later, maintains that the objectives of professionalisation differ from occupational closure to public interest. noordegraaf (2006:765) notes that we lack widely available conceptual frameworks for understanding these complicated processes of professionalisation. these are important questions that encourage the need to question the relevance of beps as the ci does not appear to fully benefit from the division of expert labour (doel), which is the core reason for the existence of specialisation through beps. while the role of professionalism in society is generally seen as relevant, its potential future in the ci is being challenged as not so much has surfaced from beps (eccles 2009; hughes and hughes, 2013). it is in light of this that this study seeks new insight into the legitimation of any reserved built environment professional work that could offer new avenues for addressing problems facing the ci as part of the broader ci reform agenda. 2. literature review 2.1 the concept of legitimation of be professional work the authors find it convenient to advance the discussion on existing models for professionalisation by referring to two processes of framing professionalisation that grants a different form of exclusivity. • reservation or protection of title where any member of the public can carry out the functions of a profession without being registered with the appropriate regulatory body provided s/he does not hold himself/herself under specific title reserved for the professional. otherwise, it becomes a criminal offence to use the reserved title that is protected by the law. • reservation of professional work or protection of functions where reserved functions (also called controlled acts or reserved work) are the sole province of specific professionals registered with the regulatory body. by reserving the services, the state limits the practice of such professional work to the categories of registered persons who would have met specific requirements on the basis that they are protecting the public from incompetent and unethical practitioners. where there is the protection of functions, it becomes a criminal offence to carry out, such without being registered with the relevant regulatory body. the practice of reservation of professional work, is in itself not a widely utilized tool, the reason being that it is often not possible to clearly define the functions which are to be limited to registered professionals without some ambiguity (hpc, n.d). identification of work (idow) is one such form of reservation of built environment professional functions in south africa emanating from statutory regulation of beps. to date, fewer studies have accounted for the relational interaction in this fractal divide. therefore, there is limited information about what what occurs as a result of reservation of professional work, in terms of the boundary margin effect (discussed later herein). though academic literature on professions argues a strong case for the structuring of expertise in society through professions (e.g. adler et al., 2008) it does little to address the structure of their professional work. the concept of legitimacy is defined by suchman (1995:574) in hughes an hughes (2013) as "a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs and definitions". reservation or protection of functions deserves consideration in the construction reform agenda, especially in developing countries wherein the catalogue of problems facing ci include: lack of human resources, institutional capacity and limited human capacity development (ofori, 2000,2011; van wyk, 2006). this is accompanied by a lack of appropriate policies and strategies addressing the development of beps, which raises the question as to why very little attention is given to beps. this is important, as professions are one of the institutions through which the society hold the expertise, in addition to ‘organisations' and ‘commodification' (abbott, 1988:323). hence, bep policy frameworks are devised and implemented as "machinery and mechanisms necessary to achieve reform" (cib, 2011) in developing countries. given the above, the anglo-american sociology of professions where the state is just an "actor" and part of "large social force" involved in endorsing the outcomes of the professionalisation process becomes redundant in the state-led construction reform. this is because governments in developing countries, through public policies actively define professional jurisdiction, as is the case in the continental european countries such as france, italy and germany where the state acts as a "creator of professional jurisdictions" by granting privileges through legislation (le bianc 2003). such an approach is supported by liu's (2016) argument that for developing countries, the social spaces of professions and [ci] development are overlapping ecologies that share some common actors. this study is done towards providing a possible conceptual model that will improve the state regulation of renewed and emerging be professional work in south africa, and by so doing improve the beps' performance in project delivery. 2.2 built environment professions in the ci there are many definitions of profession arising out of mostly sociology and economic literature are influenced by the theoretical approaches that different authors follow. the description of a profession is given in langford and hughes (2009) as a body of knowledge to ensure an evenness of standards of services to the public. for this paper, professions are defined as knowledgebased occupational groups that share tangential boundaries with other occupations, with abstract knowledge being one of the key distinguishing factors. it is noteworthy that the term "beps" is inconsistently defined across the world. however, it is a noun mostly used as an umbrella name for construction, property and facilities management professions. the literature does not offer a definite list of beps as it is a drifting concept that varies from country to country and from period to period (haigh and amaratunga 2010, muir and rance 1995, hartenberger et al., 2013). the beps are best defined by t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 37 first defining the two terms: built environment (be) and professions; in addition to the concept of division of expert labour (doel) described herein. the be is as an interdisciplinary field, where each discipline is defined as a branch of scientific knowledge, that cuts across planning, design, production, adaptation, maintenance, restoration, conversation, management, evaluation and recycling of the be (ciob 2010, chynoweth 2006 & 2009). these disciplines comprise specialisms, some of which share standard features, and the boundaries between disciplines and relationships amongst them are ill-defined and continuously changing (wagner at al., 1991 cited in ofori, 1994). 2.3 beps as a result of division of expert labour division of labour (dol) in a society is both a classical social and economic phenomenon studied by several classic writers including adam smith in ‘the wealth of the nation' (1779) and emile durkheim in ‘the division of labour in society' (1893). according to smith ‘s division of labour theory, production efficiencies increase with task separation, where one worker is repeatedly performing each task as compared to where the functions are combined across the value chain and conducted by the same worker. adam smith's proposition was further qualified by saying that "the extent of the market" limits the division of labour. in effect, this means that the expansion of the scale of dol is dependent upon the market. put differently, the bigger the market, the more the dol. in smithian theory, therefore dol is driven by pure economies of scale (not forgetting the opportunity cost of coordinating a long list of specialists in the value chain). stigler (1951) echoed smith's theory to say as an industry grows vertical disintegration occurs where different cost functions become involved in the different aspects of the production of goods. beps can best be represented by the tracing of their historical path from craft guilds to master builders and ultimately to the modern professions as we know them. while such a review is outside the scope of this paper, there are, however, two views concerning the relationship between the development of modern beps in general and the craft guilds in particular that deserve attention. the first view is that modern beps is an extension of the medieval crafts where all major crafts were organised into guilds, which regulated their affairs and controlled entry to the crafts (bellis, 2000; krause, 1996). just like beps, guilds practice monopolistic competition and occupational domination over the trades. the main difference, however, is that guilds included semiprofessional occupations with fewer knowledgeecologies than professions. the second and opposing view is that modern beps are not a continuity of the older guilds but rather a break from that tradition. the beps appeared in the 19th century as the powers of the guilds were slowly being eroded by significant shifts in political and economic institutions, such as the growth of centralised forms of government, erosion of monarchical powers and increasing commitment to free markets. these changes culminated into the industrial revolution, and different patterns of economic resource and wealth distribution from that in the middle ages (dingwall, 1996). in the case of occupations, professionalism became a form of the modernisation process identified by "the advance of science and cognitive rationality and the progressive differentiation and rationalization of the division of labour in industrial societies" (larson, 1977: xiii). the evolution of beps thus seems to support the view that craft guilds were precursors to beps and that the emergence of professions was a response to the increasing complexity brought about by industrialisation and sustained by present-day technological, economic, environmental, social and sustainable challenges (hughes and hughes 2013). according to krause (1999) cited in henn (2013), craft guilds are said to have heralded the beginnings of claims of expertise and professionalism in be. thus, the ci experienced doel due to the growth of the market (henn 2013). as the buildings became more complex, disciplines were developed in response and professionals acquired expert knowledge, standard credentials and status in the society. today, beps as a form of specialisation accompanied by doel continue to grow as organisational and technological changes continue to lead the production process and render some knowledge requirements obsolete (gann and salter 1999). they also shift the knowledge boundaries of professions and sometimes gives birth to new ones while continuing to fragment existing ones further (abbott, 1988; henn (2013) and hughes and hughes (2013). 2.4 fragmentation as an impact of temporary project organisation structures projects—as a sphere where be professional work is practised—call for better coordination of expertise to attain effective working relationships and benefit from specialisation. according to jones & lichtenstein (2008), a project is a nexus of activities that allows multiple and temporary project-based organisations to work together to achieve their individual and collective goals in a limited period. the temporariness is key as projects are resourced through professionals employed in firms and only come together to execute a one-time project. hindle (1988) refers to higgin and jessop (1985) in arguing that the central problem facing the ci is that the relationship that exists among the resource controllers, professions included, is that of interdependent autonomy, with no match between technical and organisational interdependence. this suggests that the temporary organisation of the resources into a project structure is far removed from the organisations that employ the professionals. this temporary arrangement nullifies the benefits gained through doel and specialisation and perpetuates the problems that do not appear in established ongoing production organisations. table 1 lists some of the problems. as such, the institutionalised arrangements of organizing be professional work in projects deserve to be more widely recognised for their role in shaping projects. powell (1990) cited in bechky (2006:327) proceeds further to reveal that "we know very little about the phenomenology of work within temporary organisations". as such bechky (2006:327) picking on powell (1990) raises a relevant question about "how people cope with circumstances in which control is not direct and 38 t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 immediate, and conformity to well-established administrative routines not guaranteed”. table 1: problems that plague temporary organisations problem reference inherent transaction costs turner and müller (2003) working in new teams that constantly shift team membership and leadership demsetz (1991); thomassen (2004); bechky (2006) lack of co-operation, trust, effective communication and adversarial relationships bresnen and marshall (2000); kadefors (2004); wikforss and logren (2007) new disciplines render established ones obsolete gann and salter (1999) bechky's (2006) observation points out a need to understand be professional work in these short-lived project" settings due to the following features of functionally interdependent professional practice bringing in the fragmentation effects in the ci: i. temporary collaboration and integration of their knowledge (mcmurtry, 2013); ii. interconnection and intertwinement as they cannot deliver their functions independently (abbott 1988; bordass & leaman, 2013); and iii. the accomplishment of tasks is by forming an ecology of occupations (janda and killip, 2010). fragmentation is a common phenomenon blamed for inefficiencies in the ci. many industry reports and studies (e.g. emmerson, 1962; latham, 1994; egan, 1998; construction industry review committee, 2001) proximate fragmentation to a dirt work blamed for and a significant contributor to a wide range of problems facing the ci. some of the problems facing the ci are listed in table 2. table 2: problems associated with fragmentation in the ci problem reference lagging behind in absorption of new technologies and innovation eichert and kazi, 2007 poor quality, bad service and broken promises egan, 1998; wood, mcdermott, and swan, 2002 difficulties in communication, co-operation and integrated project practices kadefors, 2004; dainty et al., 2006; winch, 2010; gustavsson and gohary, 2012). over the wall” syndrome – a disconnection between design and construction through a sequential approach to project development evbuomwan and anumba 1998 in the practical sense fragmentation "means that the ownership and control of separate functions …resides in the hands of separate organisations with their own distinctive cultures and working practices" (oranje et al., 2005:131). just like in the case of doel, there is widespread agreement among scholars and practitioners that the root cause of fragmentation was grounded on the broader phenomenon of industrialization and increasing project size, scope and complexity (henn, 2013). as a result, the ci does not fully enjoy the benefits of doel but instead suffer from the fragmentation, which defines boundaries, rules of interaction and division of responsibilities (hoffman and henn, 2008). while horizontal fragmentation represents differentiation into specialist disciplines, the frustration, however, is that most of the occupational groups resulting from these disciplines do not see themselves as being part of a more extensive professional network responsible for delivering projects (hartenberger, 2013). according to alashwal and abdul-rahman (2013), the ci contains little network closures. as such, many structural holes are caused by fragmentation. contrary to the sweeping view, bresnen and marshall (2001) supported by tobin (2015) demonstrate that fragmentation itself is not necessarily a problem, but it is the lack of integration and coordination of the fragments that are a problem. a similar view is held by zürn and faude (2013) that it is not fragmentation per se, but rather the coordination (or lack of it) of fragmented or differentiated institutions. specialism is, however, unavoidable as projects become more complex and become augmented by technological, economic and other external factors (kallip and jindal, 2013; henn, 2013). hindle (1998 & 2015) blames professions and even questions as to whether professions create segmentation or specialisation. his position is supported by eccles (2012) who views the royal charters and statutes establishing professions as encouraging fragmentation by creating jurisdiction. their argument is supported by the fact that each profession acts independently and has a separate identity. they become defensive of their various professional turfs or institutions and want to maintain their independence (fairclough, 2002). from this perspective, the root cause is the assertion of individual identity and independence, resulting in specialisation without proper coordination. hindle (2015) and eccles (2012) argue that one way of realising collective identity and improving coordination in professions is to pursue similarities in work practice and procedures; in other words, finding a common way of perceiving the problems and their possible solutions and sharing methods, thus bringing in the normative value system of professionalism in professional work and workplaces. consistent with the above view, edwards (2010) argues that practice is a ‘relation agency' phenomenon in a knowledge-driven institutional setting such as projects. it involves practitioners bringing their knowledge to complex problems, a capacity to negotiate what matters to other professionals and aligning with them in this collaborative, complex phenomenon. therefore, a practice of professions means performance with professionalism by professionals, of their professional services in a work environment. however, that being the case, freidson (1989:439) suggests that we know little about professional practice the organization of professional work and the way it is performed is by far the weakest. freidson (1989), therefore calls for a systematic look at a professional practice that we can understand what work is done, how t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 39 and why." freidson (1989:439). freidson views, therefore, practice as an organisation and regards the study of the various forms of professional practice as a critical requirement for developing not an only better understanding of the professions but also sensitive and intelligent social policies for dealing with them. to this effect, gurrie (2009) advises that the organisation and management of professional work remains a significant area of analysis, which will be relevant to construction reform. 2.5 sociological theories of professions the sociological theories of professions can be explored from at least four different perspectives: trait, structural functionalism, power and lastly jurisdictional conflict as summarized in table 3. these theories are not discussed in detail due to space limitations, except the jurisdictional/conflict theory, which forms the theoretical framework for this study. briefly, trait and structural functionalism theories view professions as a positive aspect of modernism while power theory takes a negative view of professionalism, holding the view that professions are a form of monopolization and social closure aimed at dominating the market. table 3: perspectives on sociological theories of professions theoretical perspective key writers key features traits carr-saunders and wilson (1933) caplow (1954) wilensky (1964) • distinguishing characteristics or attributes of modern professions from ordinary occupation. • key traits include possession of abstract knowledge and adherence to code of conduct to altruistic service to the public structural functionalism talcott parson (1939) • concerned with how structural relationships interconnect and the functioning whole of the professions. • justification of the professional – client relationship on the basis of the asymmetry of knowledge between the two. power everett hughes (1971) elliot freidson (1970) (johnson 1972 magali larson, 1977) • professions use their possession of scarce knowledge and skill to claim social recognition and economic rewards; • professions use specialised knowledge for functional closure and monopolisation to enhance their private interest. jurisdictional conflict bucher and strauss (1961) thomas brante (1988) andrew abbott (1988) edman (2001) • professions engage in power struggle with other professions in the same field for interactional and relational (territorial) space over professional work; • regards professionalisation as a process of interprofessional competition for jurisdictional expansion the jurisdictional conflict focuses on social interaction or the reciprocal relationship between professionals in the workplaces (abbott, 1986, 1988; liu, 2014). an approach such as this is viewed to be interactional as it elevates the unit of analysis from individual professionals to competing professional groups which coexist in an ecological system (liu, 2013). the struggle to monopolize jurisdictions in professions is viewed as an inter-professional competition over control of professional work within the field in which they operate. according to jurisdictional theorists, professions engage in a boundary formation over turfs as they patrol their borders from being "invaded" or encroached by neighbours; expand their boundaries into the neighbouring professions' turf; or occupying unclaimed space (vacancies). unlike power theorists, jurisdictional conflict theorists are not concerned with the monopoly of an individual profession but rather the interaction of competing professions within the same field that share some form of expertise. professions do not engage in a power struggle for domination, but for interactional space (territory) to compete with one another and constitute various jurisdictional settlements. unlike other theorists who put an over-emphasis on macro-sociological processes and the institutional forms of professionalism, jurisdictional conflict theorists focus on control of professional work and link them within an evolving field or system. just like structural functionalists, they are concerned with intra-group functioning and structures of differentiated professions in a whole of professions, rather than that of an individual profession. the jurisdictional theory considers differentiation of functions and a mechanism to bridge such structures to realise what parsons (1968) calls a professional complex or what was later termed a system of professions by abbott (1988). as suggested by bechky (2003) that functional interaction at the level of work should be examined and shows how such negotiation of professional work boundaries occurs at the level of work. the first jurisdictional theorists are said to be bucher and strauss (1961) who introduced the notion of professions as always in process, instead of static formations, and subject to divisions or segmentation when new specializations are developed. in particular, this study appropriates abbott's system of profession model as a theoretical lens for viewing such interaction and relational agency. 2.6 abbott’s system of professions as a theoretical lens abbott's system of professions model provides a threelevel approach of ‘thinking about division of labour'' and tends to "suggest a path to the study of work" (1988;317). it refers to the upper level, i.e., the broad social forces and how such forces affect individual professions under certain conditions; the middle/meso level where a system 40 t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 of profession is taken to be ‘structures linking professions with task' (1988:315); and the bottom/micro level i.e. differentiation within professions themselves. abott’s model is based on the legal concept of jurisdictions of professions within the same ecological space (biological and spatial concept) where domain provides a connection between a profession and its work. jurisdiction is a concept defining the link between a profession and its work (abbott 19988: 20). it is based on the idea that professions constitute an interactive ecology (abbott 2005:246). professions are seen as interacting in a limited social space called an ecological system where each profession is allocated a specialised area of professional work called jurisdiction in terms of the expert knowledge system that demarcates symbolic internal boundaries (abbott 1988; 2005). this paves the way for a conception of an abstract social space borrowed from physical urban spaces and applied to sociology of professions. by an ecology, what is meant is a ‘social interaction' that is best understood in terms of interactions between multiple elements that are neither fully constrained nor fully independent (abbott 2005: 246). abbott argues that professions in the same ecological space do not exist alone but co-exist within a continuum in the system (i.e. act as a whole) where "each profession is bound by a set of tasks and jurisdiction" (1988:33). this 'system', is a complex, dynamic and interdependent structural network of a group of professions within a given domain of work, continually struggling over areas of knowledge and skill expertise (abbott, 1988). the professions within the system are bonded or strained by "common work" or "common workplace" (1988:124) implying that they are both interactional and relational to another within the space provided". since jurisdiction is exclusive, professions constitute an interdependent system (abbott 1988: 86). accordingly, "professions are exclusive occupational groups applying somewhat abstract knowledge to particular cases" (abbott 1988:8). abbott argues that the power of professions is rooted in their body of knowledge, which should be sufficiently abstract to prevent appropriation by other professions. the jurisdiction establishment and claim process in abbott's system of professions underlines a vital feature of any profession, which is that professions are interdependent and therefore must recognise each other to build a recognisable system of legitimate claims in the workplace. abbott argues that the struggle to monopolise jurisdictions in professions is an inter-professional competition over control of professional work. professions regularly engage in interprofessional turf battles with each other for jurisdictions. the conflict arises out of professions protecting the monopoly of their settled jurisdiction from invasion by outsiders or other professions within the system, crossing boundaries into their territories. abbott's system of professions model is seen as relevant to the study of be professional work for several reasons. first, abbott (1998:325) recommends that "[we] must stop studying single professions … and start studying work." this is because ‘professions both ‘created their work and created by it [work] 1998:325'. in abbott’s (1988:19) opinion: “it is control of work that brings the professions into conflict with each other and makes their histories interdependent'. it is differentiation in types of work that often leads to acute differentiation within the professions. by switching from a focus on the organisational structures of professions to a focus on groups with typical work, several assumptions are replaced at once.” second, abbott's system of professions model makes a substantial contribution to the better understanding of professional jurisdictions where professions are mutually dependent and form an ecological system. he recognises that "a profession's success reflects as much the situation of its competitors and the system structure as it does the profession's effects" (abbott 1988:33). according to liu (2009: 2014), abbott's model is said to be a fundamental paradigm shift from previous sociological theories of professions because: • it elevates the unit of analysis from single professions to a system of professions; • it shifts from institutional structures of professions to professional work; and • adopts an interactional and systematic relations approach (liu, 2009; 2014). third, abbott's (1988) model covers professions at the system level and further analyses the internal differentiation, structures and power of professions within the system as a result of how ‘large social forces' affect the system and individual professions within the system. abbott (1988) argues that organisational efficiency is a central value in the social-structural legitimation of professions. in so doing, he moves away from the institutional form of professionalism to focus on control of professional work within a constantly evolving system (bureau and suquet, 2009). he is concerned about structures and the intragroup functioning of differentiated professions in the system rather than of individual profession. he partially addresses bechky (2003), who suggests that occupational interaction at the level of negotiation of work boundaries should be examined. however, there are several weaknesses with abbott (1988)'s model. firstly, as construction literature on fragmentation demonstrates, boundaries of professions have continuously shifted and required incessant ‘boundary work' by those who are interested in ascertaining the professional identity and the productive status of the boundary margins on professional work. despite all of the above, abbott still does not answer the question that begs to be asked: how does a system of interdependent professions organize its coordination? here is where the jurisdictional conflict bias in abbott's the system of profession ceases posing questions about the characteristics of a system, that is working together as parts of an interrelated whole (displaying holism characteristics). secondly, abbott's theory focuses on conflicts arising out of jurisdictional boundaries and vacancies; and seems to lack a mechanism of articulation between different professions once they are created and competing for turf. while abbott recognises the collective work as the basis of the conflict, he fails to recognise the potential of better co-ordination of such interdependence as a source of organisational efficiency in the legitimation of professions. abbott is more concerned with social closure of one profession by another or monopolisation by t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 41 expanding the boundaries of existing professions rather than the actual cooperation required in the professional work. in summary, table 4 outlines the relevance and criticism of the abbottian model in relation to be professional work . while this theory is relevant, it is not sufficient to understand the extent to which professional work in a temporary organisation environment occurs. direct extrapolation from this theory, to the extent that it enables the legitimation of reservation of professional work in the be, is therefore impossible—as pinpointed by the limitations in the table below. table 4: relevance and criticism of the abbottian model of system of professions relevance criticism and limitations abbott’s theory was a fundamental paradigm shift from previous sociological theories of professions, as it: • shifted the unit of analysis from single professions to a system of professions and focusing on professional work; • shifted focus from institutional structures of professions to professional work; • adopted an interactional and systematic relations approach • analysed functional divisions and the forces behind jurisdictional change; • considered the role of external factors in shaping a field as an area of practice. abbott’s theory does not answer the following questions: • how does a system of interdependent professions organise its own coordination? • how do interdependent and differentiated beps positively work together in an ecological system to complete a whole? • how do mutual boundaries serve as a sight of interconnection rather than rivalry? • how do boundaries become a mode of production rather than source of conflict (lamont and molnar, 2002; star and giesemer, 1989)? • how do beps move from a retrograde culture of interprofessional competition and turf battles towards integration relational analysis? • what is the role of the state in the structuring of professional work? 2.7 gieryn’s (1983) boundary work as a lens several writers have used boundary work as a tool for social and cultural distinctions (gieryn, 1983; liu, 2013). because professional boundaries are always contested and transformed by tensions, gieryn (1983) encourages a focus on their construction and negotiation. in a study of the science community, gieryn(1983) examined "the discursive attribution of selected qualities to scientists, scientific method, and scientific claims for drawing a rhetorical boundary between science and some less authoritative, residual non-science" and "demarcating, defending, expanding, contesting the limits of legitimate science, the real scientist from the pseudo scientist" territory. so, if boundaries designate the beginning and the end of territories, jurisdictional boundaries indicate the presence of borderlines that confine professional work for each bep. according to liu (2013), for both abbott and gieryn, boundary work is not only a symbolic concept for understanding social classifications but also a spatial concept. in this sense, boundary work involves an engagement in the construction of social space, such as the space of knowledge (gieryn, 1999) or the space of work and occupations (abbott 1988). accordingly, various patterns of boundary work all have spatial consequences. referring to the workplace, professions cannot deliver their functions independently. instead, they become interconnected and intertwined in project organisations where they temporarily collaborate and integrate their knowledge in their delivery of projects (abbott 1988; bordass & leaman, 2013; mcmurtry 2013). they form an ecology of occupations to accomplish the tasks considered to be within their jurisdiction (janda and killip 2010). so, if boundaries designate the beginning and the end of territories jurisdictional boundaries indicate the presence of borderlines that confine reserved work for each bep. the competition for tasks from time to time also differentiates the internal division of professions, thus forming jurisdictional boundaries. the differentiation creates some form of specialisation that may be a vertical stratification, thus creating hierarchy and subordination or may be horizontal, thus creating functional differentiation. as such, professions engage in jurisdictional claims and settlements. the differentiation carves out areas of specialisation for each profession but at the same time reinforces inter-professional connections amongst professions. it also highlights that the professions become "interdependent", meaning that there cannot be specialisation with some form of complementarity. since the professions in a system are interdependence they must integrate and collaborate of which their boundaries play a role. 3. significance of the theoretical frameworks while theories of temporary organization design are suggestive, there is little empirical evidence showing how coordination happens in legitimizing professional work where the internal functioning will be in temporary organizational forms. it is on this basis that the authors argue that the problem of professionalism in the ci should move from a retrograde culture of inter-professional competition, that is, turf battles over-controlling of professional work, towards integration-relational analysis. it is possible to identify boundaries as a mode of production that bridges two or more professions in a system in the interdependent profession. both lamont and molnar (2002) and star and giesemer (1989) tread boundaries as boundary objects bridging two separate professions. this conceptual position has a role to play in the division of professions. in summary, the theory of structuring professional work in the doel as successfully advanced by abbott's system of professions views professions as acting 42 t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 interdependently as wholly discrete units but does not address the coordination and integration required. this negates its full use as in addressing the implications for professionals in construction reform, and, as banwell (1964:1, cited in hindle 2000) observes, the addressing "the most urgent problem which confronts the ci, … the necessity of thinking and acting as a whole). one justification for the regulation of professions is prescribed (positive) behaviour and improving the efficiency of markets in delivering goods and services (den hertog, 2010; kogan and unt, 2008). it, therefore, makes sense that any state intervention in the professions should move beyond conflict to the integration of professional work in projects under which long term enrichment of the be could be realised. as observed by several writers (e.g. dingwall & king, 1995; dingwall 2004; liu 2013), abbott appears to be unable to signpost certainty concerning this factor, especially where the state is considered as another actor in the system of professions. however, abbott proceeds to redeem this deficiency in his article on linked ecologies of professions (abbott, 2005) where the influential roles of academisation are acknowledged and the state regulatory powers in the determination of territorial jurisdictions of each professional stake. lest it be assumed that abbott's system re-emphasises and identifies power as a defining issue for professionalism, it can also mean that the state regulation of the professions and their legitimisation as enshrined in the legislation exists ostensibly to promote inefficiencies and perpetuate the ‘problem of demarcation' as envisaged by gieryn (1983;1995). the ‘conflict perspective' advanced by abbott inevitably negatively modifies attitudes towards differentiation and doel as well as the figuration of mutual boundaries running between interdependent professions to be a sight of rivalry rather than interconnection. despite its profound challenges, abbott's system of professions can offer rich insights and possibilities to professionalism for construction sector reform. in conclusion, the theories of sociologies of professions and science attempt to assess the society's ability to hold expertise through beps as a form of doel in the ci. however, these fail to comprehensively analyse all the factors that influence professional work in projects as temporary organisations. the construction literature fails to assess the capacity of beps to behave as fragments comprehensively, hence inefficiencies in the ci. this paper helps to complete the existing arguments for professionalisation in the be, thus enabling these theories to further inform the state legitimation of be professional work and underpin construction reform and development. in this circumstance, there is a need to seek to relate the phenomenology of professional practice in the temporary organisation to state regulation of reserved built environment professional work within the specific context of government-regulated industry development in developing countries. 4. the south african case study as observed by fox and skitmore (2002), the south african approach to ci development (department of public works, rsa 1998: 1-70) has placed much more emphasis on institutional infrastructure to address its human capacity challenges, beps included. while significant progress has been made in the establishment of these developmental and regulatory entities, the regulatory tools largely remain undeveloped for various reasons. for example, the construction industry development board (cidb) has not made progress on the launching of the register of professional service providers. moreso, the sections in the built environment professions acts that prohibit the undertaking of work reserved for professions with designated professional titles have still not been promulgated since 2000. the south african bep policy and the machinery and mechanisms put in place to realise reform are briefly outlined below. after the first democratic elections in south africa in 1994, the department of public works formulated construction sector policies in the white paper entitled, creating an enabling environment for reconstruction, growth and development in the construction industry (dpw) (1999). according to the white paper, the strategic aim of a construction industry policy is to establish an enabling environment in which the objectives of reconstruction, development and growth are realised in the construction industry. the vision is of a construction industry policy and strategy that promotes stability, fosters economic growth and international competitiveness, creates sustainable employment and which addresses historic imbalances as it generates new industry capacity. the government of the republic of south africa also embarked on a plan to renew professions and professionalism in be as it sought to rebuild the nation in the aftermath of apartheid. the policy framework on the statutory regulation of the built environment professions (dpw: 1999) (beps policy framework justified the necessity of statutory regulation for the protection of the health, safety and pecuniary interests of the public and maintenance of quality standards. at the core, its statutory regulation in the bep policy lies a mechanism called reservation of work. the use of the term reservation of functions was subsequently changed to the identification of work (idow) in the council for the built environment (cbe) act, 2000 (act no. 43 of 2000). despite the change of terminology from the reservation of functions to idow, the explicit intentions remained the same, is to: promote doel by recognising emerging professions and creating new categories of registration within the existing professions; and ii. effect state regulation of beps that will contribute to the efficiency and competitiveness of the ci in view of the foregoing, idow is a mechanism arising out of the bep policy that is intended to provide a framework for the legitimation of the creation and renewal of professional work for beps in south africa. while the bep policy documents identified idow as a mechanism to achieve reform, it also pointed out the common unintended and even undesirable consequences of orthodox professionalism, including the creation of monopolies and stifling of competition. in shaping the future, a probing caution was thus raised in the bep policy framework: that ‘…care must, therefore, be taken t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 43 that reservation of functions is not a restrictive practice but rather an enabling provision' (dpw 1999, unnumbered). though this notion is recognised in the policy framework, south africa made policy choices to retain statutory regulation of beps to drive construction reform; and use idow as a regulatory mechanism to recognise emerging and renewed beps (ministry of public works 1998: dpw policy, 1999). since the enactment of the relevant beps legislation, the implementation of idow remains unenforceable; as the relevant section in the legislation which reserve work for specific categories of registration remains un-enacted. these teething problems on policy interpretation and implementation undermine the change and reform intent in the beps policy document, i.e. recognition of new professions and transformation of the existing ones by creating new categories of registration within them. south africa has made these policy choices; what counts is the issue addressed in this study, it is not whether or not the statutory regulation of beps is a desirable policy choice. rather, a need to address the quality of such state intervention once this policy choice is made. by quality, it is meant that there is a need to ensure that the wellintended actions of the state do not have unintended consequences or make things worse. this is critical as the positive intention of government intervention in achieving the desired change, is not always achieved. as observed by luiz (2000:235), misdirected state intervention is possibly worse than no intervention. 5. a preliminary conceptual model for the identification of work having identified the abovementioned theories to guide the legitimation concerning be professional work in sa, the authors attempt to respond to the overarching aim of cib task group tg84 on construction reform by exploring and explaining idow as the machinery and mechanisms that can be put in place to achieve bep reform as a case study. the preliminary schematic conceptual model in figure 1 provides various analytical concepts centred around boundary margins on and within a system of the profession in a construction project. the preliminary schematic conceptual model makes a move away from use of the word ‘boundary' as seen in the lenses referred to earlier on, electing instead ‘boundary margin' to reflect the fact that the boundaries may not always be fused, that is interfaced but may overlap and sometimes leave gaps in between professions over and above what abbott (1988) regards as ‘vacancies'. conceptualising the boundary zones of neighbouring professions as transition points at which transactions and exchanges take place is an essential step in understanding this constant process of birth and renewal of professions. it is clear that the role and function of boundaries in configuring beps need to be understood relationally to capture the means of collaboration across these boundary zones. to help focus on collaboration, the preliminary conceptual model for the identification of work at the project level focuses on time and space logic before considering the legitimation process at the macro (policy) level. the conceptual model is based on four analytical concepts overlaps, vacancies, interstices, interfaces – overlaid in a territorial space (the fifth analytical concept) to explain how boundary margins keep professions relational, and how the dynamics of boundary work unfold in a bep system that occupies a territorial space in a project (meso) environment. territories in creating territories, professional boundaries serve as external bounding structures and serve as internal demarcation elements of any enclosure. in case of beps, boundaries demarcate and separate the internal arrangement of each discipline into specific professions, besides giving the territorial configuration of the enclosure of bep. such beps create boundaries, thus guarding their territories against both the unqualified and the neighbouring professions. this postulates that, at any given time, the territory of each bep is demarcated at some definite point in space, relative to the next profession. their localization in that space may have some "causation" effect and hence can say that they are interdependent. overlaps there are possible overlaps in knowledge and jurisdiction between two or more professions in the system. overlaps are a potential source of conflicts between professions. ironically, the overlapping not only confirms the mutual dependence of professions in the system but also become a source of conflict. despite a clear recognition of commonalities, professions tend to be individualistic and, on occasion, face resistance arising out of overlaps, which ought to be a source of integration. some professions consider their role as being infringed upon and their professional identity eroded. this creates a climate of uncertainty about the limits of their responsibilities towards accommodating integration. interstices an interstitial space is the space in-between, underneath, beyond, enveloped, and outside our traditional spaces occupied by professions. in focusing on jurisdictional areas, ‘small spaces' (referred to interstices) occur in between the professions. their "smallness" inherently signifies a power issue. the ‘in-between-ness' occurs because they are being surrounded by other spaces that are either more institutionalized, and therefore economically and legally powerful, or endowed with a stronger identity, and thus more recognizable or typical. just like in the urban space analysis, rather than a mere small gap in between the beps, the interstice is, in fact, an active component. interstitially also equates to emptiness. however, void also holds prospects for the birth of new professions. vacancy vacancy refers to a grey area in which any professions do not address a task and in which conflicts between two professions could arise as they compete for it. vacancies are just like intervals in that they are not static but are continuously changing as they are being formed by evershifting demarcation within the system. the difference between vacancies and interstices being that vacancies are large enough to be occupied by emerging professions. 44 t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 figure 1: preliminary conceptual model for idow please note bep 1 to 6 represent various professions in the construction industry such as architecture, engineering, project management, etc 6. concluding discussion the literature review shows that the ci cannot afford to institutionalise expert knowledge through beps without considering projects a temporal organisation where professional work is practisedas secondary institutions, else fragmentation and poor co-ordination prevail. abbott's (1988) system of profession model was mobilised here as a jurisdictional sociological theory of professions to theoretically develop new insights into how professional boundary margins entangle relations and interaction of professions in space and time. given the pervasive role of boundaries in effecting coordination in the relations and interaction of professions, depending on the type of boundaries, the authors contend that the relationship between professions should not be left for market instruments such as contracts to define but should be part of the legitimation. therefore, identification of work is about the legitimation of knowledge boundaries encapsulating emerging and renewed professions. a preliminary conceptual model is proposed composed of five analytical concepts, i.e. overlaps, vacancies, interstices, interfaces, and the territorial space they exist within. each analytical concept helps explain a unique process wherein boundaries of inter-dependent professions become legitimately entangled with another. the model highlights the process of boundary management at a project level. table 5: research questions and research objectives specific research questions specific research objectives what is the theoretical construct behind idow? to develop meaning and understanding of idow in the be interprofessional work what is the nature of boundary margins in and between beps? to identify key issues and concerns regarding boundaries in beps why will overlaps, gaps and interstitial spaces at boundary margins matter? to describe how boundary margins manifest and the extent to which some are more influential than others how can a conceptual model for idow enable and support the renewal and creation of new beps? to develop an explanatory theory and process to guide identification of be interprofessional work in seeking to understand the project-based professional work practices, this conceptual model opens up the black box of the legitimation of professional work. while it reveals the process at the meso level, further empirical research is required to validate the preliminary conceptual model and provide a process map for the legitimation at the macro (policy level). t. e. manchidi and p. d. rwelamila / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 35-48 45 the thesis of this research is that idow should go beyond ruling on contested jurisdictional professional boundaries but should provide coordination and integration of differentiated but complementary functions arising out of doel in an interdependent and inter-bep professional environment (rather than leave that to contractual arrangements at project stage). having considered the foregoing conceptual model, the main research question to be answered by the second and last phase of the study, of which the proposed conceptual model forms a part thereof, is: what is the meaning of idow, and how should interprofessional work be identified for renewed and emerging professions in the ci? the main research objective will be to: to provide a theoretical understanding and conceptual framework for the identification of inter-professional work for be professions (beps) the purpose of the study will, therefore be: to develop a conceptual model that will assist in understanding better the intricacies involved in legitimising identified be professional work. the specific research questions and research objectives to be answered are, therefore listed in table 5. references abbott, a. 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(2002) the ethical benefits of trust-based partnering: the example of the construction industry, business ethics: a european review, vol. 11no. 1, pp. 4-13. world economic forum, shaping the future of construction: a breakthrough in mindset and technology, 2016 zürn, m. & faude, b., (2013): "on fragmentation, differentiation, and coordination". in: global environmental politics, vol. 13, no. 3, s. 119-130. 1209-amoo_et_al_no.5 jcbm (2022) 5(2). 54-67 dispute resolution methods adopted by contractors during covid-19 in eastern cape south africa: a case study o. t. amoo1, y. lukman2 and n. musa3 1,2walter sisulu university, mthatha, south africa. 3obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria received 14 april 2022; received in revised form 12 june 2022 and 08 september 2022; accepted 23 october 2022 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.2.1209 abstract over the past months, the socioeconomic consequences of the ravaging covid-19 pandemic reverberated through and affected all segments of life. the construction industry is not left out. the severe impacts of covid-19 have not only witnessed tragic human losses but have also caused colossal devastating implications for construction procurement and general contract condition. the study examined the dispute resolution methods adopted by contractors in eastern cape, south africa, during the covid-19 experience to determine their appropriateness and effectiveness. the study employed a snowballing, purposive, non-probability sampling technique with a mixed research design driven by respondents' participatory action. twelve senior personnel were interviewed, while questionnaires were administered to 30 referred employees on the sites. xlstat statistical software and thematic analysis were used for the aggregated questionnaire and qualitative respondents' interviews in drawing inferences. the results revealed that an interest-based rather than a right-based approach are two sides of a coin that can make or mar the wheel of progress in arriving at an amicable agreement to contract terms in construction. the need for re-negotiation in billing, which is at variance with the various construction claim, cannot be over-emphasised. at the same time, the intuitive assertions of negotiation, mediation, and conciliation were used in resolving unforeseen delays, claims, and added costs due to disruptions of covid-19. the study's main contribution lies in mastering and deploying appropriate dispute resolution methods in project execution. the study is of utmost importance in planning, restoring, and deriving optimal societal benefit from conflict management amidst the adverse effect of covid -19 on any construction project. keywords: conciliation, construction dispute, covid-19; mediation, negotiation 1. introduction several countries have slowly started to emerge from one of the most severe lockdowns in the world due to covid-19, which might not go away too soon. the south african construction industry is one of the industries that was severely affected not only by the national lockdown but also by unforeseen circumstances on construction sites ranging from late material delivery, difficulty in work implementation, and project time completion elongation to sudden retrenchment of the casual construction workers who sourced their livelihood from the sectorial activities. experts have said south africa is likely to witness still the 5th wave of infections going by the records of the fully vaccinated people at 30,559,431 out of the estimated mid-year population of 60.14 million 1 corresponding author email address: ejire36@gmail.com people (stats sa, 2021). the newly reported cases of 1,094 infections as of monday 14 february 2022, brought the total reported cases to 3,642,905 of death toll increased to 97,250 (+257) with a recovery rate of 96.3% for a balance of 37,406 active cases in circulation (saofficial covid-19 portal). both the past occurrence and the new covid -19 variants seem like a mirage to some industries to abide by the five-level covid-19 alert system introduced to manage the gradual easing of the restrictions. the stringent regulations include remote working, reduced commuting, and observed social distancing as part of measures to curb the spread of the disease (bodenstein et al., 2020). these measures have drastically transformed many industries and business university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 55 working landscapes to adapt to new measures. for the construction industry, this presents a plethora of opportunities and challenges in alternative dispute resolution for the client and the construction team in reaching an amicable compromise middle position. critical infrastructure, such as bridges, ports, rail, and roads, are key competitive economic development of a nation. many researchers have asserted that infrastructure development can create new employment opportunities both directly and indirectly, attracting investment. it provides the necessary stimulus for economic growth (agénor and moreno-dodson, 2006; bhattacharya et al. 2015; yu, 2017). however, the impaired irregularity arising from the unforeseen covid-19 pandemic has caused conflict and disparity between the initial guidelines for the project completion timeline and the client's assumed contractual sum (johnson and babu, 2020). other contending issues are payment modality, work quality assurance, material delivery to the site, and workers' safety during the pandemic (alsharef et al. 2021). these emerging issues affect the client who had budgeted a contractual sum for the completion of the project and the contractors who could result from working quality compromise in standards and poor-quality infrastructure delivered in other to maximise gain. these circumstances posed risks and justified deviation from the basic rule in theoretical conciliation and expert assessment in bringing amicable resolution. this brings the need for arbitrators to mediate and decide on different cost awards, which the movement control order (mco) has brought to the varying construction site works. moreso, in this era of different driven political interests in south africa, where the government representative agent proclaimed additional unauthorised jobs, deviation from contracts award sum as jointly agreed with the contractors' legal officer, chief executive officer, and financial representative of the government in determining the overall project cost. most contractors are suspicious of carrying out additional work, even if necessary. thus, there must be a revised procedure step in authorisation before contractors can claim variation in the total contractual sum with the application of the relevant contractual clause. covid-19 has exposed the inadequacy of the established norms in project execution. covid-19 may have affected many projects; however, one primary process the pandemic may have unveiled to the universe is the similarity increase in the amount of time construction professionals spend handling disputes. the global construction sector has found over 40% of professionals reporting disputes since the onset of the covid-19 crisis (king et al. 2021; ogunnusi et al., 2021). construction conflicts and delays have had a wide range of effects on global productivity (johnson and babu, 2020). among its leading impacts are: overrunning costs, extensions in stalling time, delays in the delivery of projects, and a potential loss of business viability (salami et al. 2021). although several construction projects have come under severe threat within a short period of the lockdown, many are still basking in the euphoria of recovery from the outbreak. also, every project has its desired outcome and subsequent challenges the pandemic has brought into the construction industry where ongoing construction site works are at variance to the different degrees and stages of work (alfadil et al. 2022; harris and moss, 2020). it is noteworthy to assess the impacts of the covid-19 lockdown, and gradual easing on construction sites vis a vis due to unforeseen delays, the need for additional claims, and added incurred costs as postmortem derivative of covid-19 hazard. among the arising argument is the work quality assurance, material delivery to site, time to project completion, need for additional claims, and additional elongated work, to who bears the cost/risk. other emerging issues for further discussion and re-negotiation include logistics for workers' safety under the pandemic without jeopardising the standard quality of work requirement. the recourse to no casualty and enforcing the "force majeure" in risk claims has not helped resolve the other emanating disputes (lai, 2020). project managers' daily tasks include leading project-related decisions and actions. a manager's actions and inactions have a direct impact on projects. one of the difficulties that a project manager mainly faces is decision-making. some decisions may seem trivial, but they can determine a project's success or failure. the devotion of the project team is one of the decisive elements in project success or failure. lack of teamwork and project members' dedication can cause problems. a project can be lost due to poor project team selection and a lack of desire among the team members. in this regard, a project manager should learn how to use the social exchange, motivation, and equity theories to boost productivity in common decision-making issues on construction sites (lukman et al. 2022). thus, the conception, design, and implementation of contractors' action for identifying both protective and risk factors affecting project execution in an unforeseen natural setting and the client's understanding of contractors' exposure to danger relates to timely project completion and how these affect cost incident rates signpost the contribution of this manuscript. this study aims to appraise the extent to which the various dispute resolution methods contractors adopted during covid -19 experience in a south african construction site. it sheds more light on contract budget optimisation, which advanced misconception concerning force majeure or frustration as a dispute resolution cluster term for settling and managing disputes amid the covid -19 era. furthermore, the study emphasises the role of participatory action research (par) philosophy that "individuals are more motivated when involved in the decision-making process about their workplace" (whitehead and mcniff, 2006). six (6) contractors and the employer (government of south africa) were used in this study, supported by tellis (1997). tellis argued that using multiple case studies allows an in-depth exploration of cases within identified cases. also, baxter and jack (2008) posit that this approach enables a researcher to forecast similar outcomes between cases and could also predict different outcomes based on a theory. 2. theoretical background and related work a background review of related work shows that the covid-19 pandemic has been explored from the amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 56 perspectives of epidemiology, infectionlogy, immunology, and virology (chan et al. 2005; ruiz estrada et al. 2019; harris and moss, 2020; diallo and bordea, 2021)). epidemics and pandemics are, at the same time, the factors affecting individuals but the social relationships among them, the societies, and organisational structure. the emergence of the covid19 pandemic outbreak has unveiled a new dimension in society. it continues to put the construction industry into socioeconomic, technical, and legal systems consideration at an unprecedented dispute rate (ivanov, 2021; alfadil et al., 2022). even though dispute resolution may not be uncommon across the construction industry, the astounding increase during the covid-19 pandemic is a cause for concern (alsharef et al. 2021). in addition, the measure is taken to contain the viruses such as quarantine, self-isolation, and restrictions on human and vehicular movements have a far-reaching effect on the ability of contractors to finish the project on time and within budget (alsharef et al. 2021). in addition, a measure taken to contain the viruses, such as quarantine, self-isolation, and restrictions on human and vehicular movements, have a far-reaching effect on the ability of contractors to finish the project on time and within budget (alsharef et al. 2021). maiketso and maritz (2012) have postulated adjudication as the most popular alternative dispute resolution method in the south african and global construction industries (;van der merwe, 2010; bvumbwe and thwala, 2011; alfadil et al., 2022 ). however, povey et al. (2005) and brett (2007) argued negotiation is the cheapest and most effective way to resolve disputes on sites. this method engages worried parties and often promotes meaningful dialogue engagement. however, some have reasoned about its effectiveness in dispute resolution in the construction industry based on the circumstances and peculiarity of the project (baffour-awuah et al. 2011; abeynayake, 2015; mazani et al. 2019; ogunnusi et al. 2021; king et al. 2021). adopting any particular method could be tasking and demanding in a completely new environment like covid-19 in delivering resilient infrastructure while boosting the industry growth process. having raised some of the above critiques, there seems to be no specific or exclusive best method for resolving disputes on construction sites; instead, there are various ways to resolve disputes in the construction industry. thus, there is a need to appraise the extent to which the contractors could adopt the different dispute resolution methods during covid -19 experience. most of the research efforts on dispute resolution over the past decade have been aimed at improving public discourse on conflict management; for example, yussof et al. (2020), butteriss et al. (2001), harrison and wendorf muhamad (2018), and hodgson et al. (2018). most of these studies simulate the impacts of a deliberate breach of contract and arouse public interest in shoddy substantial services delivery work. however, the recent covid -19 outbreak has stripped the construction industry of service delivery-in, paying greater interest to technical details, especially in underground infrastructure, which had stripped the embedded structure of the required maintenance. emerging research suggests that negotiators with a primarily cooperative style are more successful than hard bargains at reaching novel solutions that improve everyone's outcomes (caputo, 2016; low, 2020; harrison and wendorf muhamad, 2018; iyiola and rjoub, 2020). most of the studies on conflict management had addressed dispute resolution based on the precautionary principle and segmented phased practice, not stating the roles, rights, obligations, and remedies for the employer, contractor, and subcontractor amidst conflicting disagreement during the covid-19 pandemic. furthermore, the absence of research on the lack of social cohesion (virtual meetings, online interactions) impacts the construction industry towards impacting the teamwork spirit required for the timely completion of a project call for action and practical demonstration of real work required by experts toward prompt defect correction under unforeseen circumstances. thus, dispute resolution mechanisms are intended as suitors in small or large works either of short or long duration to resolve conflicts, more especially on components of costs (barsky, 2016). looking at rules for the conduct of arbitrations (the arbitration act 42 of 1965), justice, fairness, and equity are tri-part pillars upon which social exchange theory in dispute resolution mechanism is based (cortez and johnston, 2020; etim and okudero, 2019). social exchange theory presents two yardsticks of comparison. the theory underpins the case study approach adopted in assessing a given outcome, whether in a difficult situation or under normal circumstances. this scenario is also known as game theory. game theory entails the intersection of mutual knowledge through willingness, learning, and autonomous collaboration of the people as the engine of problem-solving in an organisation (zomorodian et al. 2017). the game theory conceptualisation in dispute resolution has helped make negotiations more structured by bringing both parties on the same page (beltran, 2020). therefore, to understand the application of justice in an unforeseen circumstance like covid-19, it is imperative to dissect and conceptualise the social exchange theory in link with the equity theory (bayat et al. 2019). a negotiator's adaption of these concepts brings clarity to the entire process. it ensures the political will of all parties to enforce the agreed terms while still preserving their respective interests (beltran, 2020). it provides a rationale for achieving both the physical and economic robustness required for development in a goal-oriented industry (bayat et al. 2019). many dispute-resolution mechanisms among dissatisfied experts in project management require the game theory concept of giving and taking (liu et al. 2017). the individual's compromise in dispute resolution depends on their expectation which is determined by the prior experience of past events. although, the worried parties believe that the fairness of the negotiators determines the outcome of the service recovery initiative (jeong et al. 2019; de filippi et al. 2020). thus, this study highlights major dispute resolution strategies useful for covid-19 pandemic-affected projects in eastern cape, south africa, to determine their appropriateness and effectiveness. the six selected construction sites shed more light and advanced misconceptions concerning force majeure or frustration as amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 57 a dispute resolution cluster term for settling and managing disputes amid the covid -19 era. the study appraised the various dispute resolution mechanisms and determined their appropriateness and effectiveness using deductive reasoning in project management to mitigate unforeseen delays, disruptions, and unnecessary additional costs. 3. research methods the research adopted the snowball sampling method. it is often relevant when participants of a study are difficult to locate, or constrained by time, cost, or convenience of collecting the data (emerson, 2015). in the sampling method, a researcher collects data from a few people (participants) whom they can find, then ask the same people (participants) to recommend where potential participants may be found or people to whom such participants relate (mitchell and education, 2018; sharma, 2017). the nature of this research, which requires the insights of experts from the construction industry and pandemic scientists who are well-grounded in assessing impacts on construction sites, would give credence to the subject matter. also, in action research, the research is conducted with the intent to improve researchers' practice and design a practicable line of action; while implementing this design (ngwenya, 2018). hence, action research is a societal process that interrogates the nexus between people and their immediate society. it recognises the significance of perceiving society as a unit of identification (ngwenya, 2018). adopting the mixed design gives credence to the approach employed, whereby qualitative and quantitative methods were utilised to gather relevant data (little et al., 2011, onwuegbuzie et al., 2009). the online structured interviews were conducted with senior personnel via zoom scheduled meetings for the selected company representatives. this was followed up with a recorded telephone interview. before this, the researcher obtained permission to record and transcribe the interview sessions. twelve senior personnel were interviewed, while questionnaires were administered to 30 referred employees on the sites in drawing inferences. the engagement of these stakeholders helps give an indepth understanding of maneuvering covid-19 impacts on construction cost, quality, and time to projection completion. quantitative data consists of numerical data, which can be quantified, while qualitative data help affirm and clarify the quantitative collected data. the triangulation method was used to justify the acceptable opinion where the qualitative and quantitative responses are in opposing positions. the triangulation technique uses multiple data collection methods to increase the observation's reliability (tellis, 1997; bush, 2012). this was used due to some findings that require the personal assessment of the information collected from respondents. also, it offers sufficient statistical indices for the reliability and validity of the data collected. the research used the questionnaire distributed and the interview schedule to test the hypothesis that sought to affirm/negate the assertion that covid-19 impacts the overall cost and time to project completion, irrespective of the lockdown stages. 3.1 sampling design and procedure to guide the inquiry into the impact of covid-19 on a construction site, the design of the interview and the questionnaire was done in such a way that it elucidates useful information from respondents. it has six basic information headings: demographic information, the initial and aftermost covid -19 impact on the cost; time variation responses to project completion, which dispute resolution mechanism they are aware of, and which one they believe ameliorated the arising conflict best while stating other advert effects for unforeseen circumstances. furthermore, the validity of the research instrument was underpinned by ensuring that the questions posed were not at variance with the study’ s aim and objectives. the content of the questionnaire instrument used was structured in the modified likert fashion on a 5-point scale ranging from strongly agree (sa), agree (a), neutral (n), disagree (d), to strongly disagree (sd). participants were then instructed to respond to their degree of agreement with the statements contained in the instrument. these questions were sufficient in confirming the respondent's response to the interview conducted. furthermore, all forms of ambiguity were avoided while explaining the aim of the research to the selected stakeholders. to communicate effectively, the researcher tried to explain in english to senior personnel, who later referred the researcher to other community members after assisting by translating it into isixhosa, which was the mother tongue of this locality. such translation into isixhosa increased their level of comprehension of the project and helped maintain the researcher's aim. based on mason (2017), building information modelling (bim) has enabled architecture, engineering, and construction professionals to improve collaboration, reduce errors and ultimately deliver better projects. it has justified added benefits for infrastructure projects and opened new opportunities for construction engineering professionals. however, the movement control order (mco) has imposed restrictions on humans and the delivery of goods to the construction site. this had hindered mutual joint construction professionals' assessment and input to quality delivery of the projects. thus, the research design adopted a snowball sampling approach where relevant stakeholders and experts in project management and the construction industry were consulted. the contacted individuals were briefed about the process and likely questions before the commencement of the interview. also, permission was sought by the researcher to audio-record and transcribe the interview sessions conducted. the action-based philosophy was employed in the selection of the construction sites' participants. this enables a more precise and accurate analysis of a community's reality. the triangulation method was used to validate the hypothesis from the qualitative and quantitative research strands. using the chinyio and olomolaiye (2009) influence grid model as depicted in figure 1, the research design process considered the participating company representatives and the government negotiating stakeholders in examining the choice and role of selected stakeholders determining the relevant dispute resolution amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 58 mechanism, types, and range in examining the different cases in question. the involvement of stakeholders chosen enables an easy-to-follow procedural step based on pryor's (2015) criteria where the current knowledge of trends in dispute resolution, the different types, and the range was employed to examine the different cases in question-based in table 1 stakeholder engagement (inform, consult involve and empower) to systematic name potential stakeholders who were to be involved in the project. table 1: stakeholder engagement inform consult involve empower project participation goal to provide balanced and objective information to assist stakeholders in understanding the project's drivers, alternatives, opportunities, solutions, and progress. to obtain stakeholder feedback on issues, analysis, alternatives, and/or decisions. work directly with stakeholders throughout the process to ensure that their concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered. to place final decision-making in the hands of stakeholders promise to project stakeholders we will keep you informed about the project’s progress. we will keep you informed, listen to and acknowledge your concerns, and provide feedback on how your input influenced the decision. we will work with you to ensure that your issues and ideas are directly reflected in the alternatives developed. we’ll also provide feedback on how your input influenced the decision. we will implement what you decide. example techniques for engagement and consultation newsletters/email, intranet, presentations focus groups, surveys, online forums workshops, polls, email feedback, document sharing project papers, steering group meetings, formal approvals source: international association for public participation (2014) the names of potential stakeholders were written out for each category identified above. the comprehensive list is comprised of these categories: beneficiaries, municipality employees, members of the ruling party, engineers, artisans, and health professionals. a representative was chosen for each category as a potential head who was served the questionnaire and later called for confirmation. a review followed this to ensure no potential stakeholder has been omitted from the list. the engagement of these stakeholders and site managers was used to explore how the national lockdown and its aftermath impacted the construction site (pryor, 2015). furthermore, the stakeholders were engaged using the model designed by the international association for public participation (2014), cited in quick and bryson (2022). this is illustrated in table 1. 4. data collection and analysis table 2 presents the expert demographic data analysis for the interview, while table 3 depicts respondents' feedback collation among the six contractors in assessing covid19 impacts during the movement restriction order (mro). table 4 summarises the respondent’s interview feedback on the impacts of covid-19 in executing the project. the coefficient of variability (cv), expressed as the percentage ratio of the standard deviation to the mean measures the dispersion of a probability distribution (martinez-pons, 2013). the range value of 0.26 to 0.61 depicts a fair sample representation for the different construction work. a minimum of two personnel were interviewed per site. the respondents' experiences ranged from 3 to 20 years, while amongst these 12 interviewees, 3 were company directors, 2 were senior managers, and the rest (7) were site engineers/representatives. most respondents had more than three years of work experience whom the researchers considered fit for the study. also, to strengthen the data validity, the saturation of the qualitative data collected was verified. this ensured no new information or opinions were obtained amongst the different respondents, which often resulted in the emergence of vital information. using a subjective judgement in selecting the participant and a purposive sampling criterion in choosing the "typical case" studies. five people were administered the questionnaire in each case study to obtain participants'(independent) views and experiences. amongst the 30 questionnaires dispatched within a, b, c.d, e, and f sites, 20 were fully completed, and ten were voided. the 20 respondents translate to a 67 percent response rate with a confidence level of 95%. amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 59 table 2. respondent years of experience and the resulting feedback company label years of experience project construction type completion time before covid-19 (yrs) expected completion time after covid-19 (yrs) project cost before mro (million rands) expected projected cost after mro (million rands) a 6 roads 2 3 30.50 40.00 40.00 b 11 housing 4 5 70.00 c 22 housing 4 5 65.00 95.00 d 10 water infrastructure rehabilitation 2 3 25.00 35.00 e 3 building rehabilitation. 4 6 25.00 30.00 f 17 building construction 3 4 44.00 51.80 mean 11.5 3.17 4.33 38.25 47.63 std. dev. 6.40 0.90 1.11 13.92 29.26 cv 0.56 0.28 0.26 0.36 0.61 key: std. dev. = standard deviation; cv = coefficient of variability a reliability coefficient of 0.60 for the cronbach's alpha score of six (6) for all the items that constituted the questionnaire depicted acceptable reliability for a newly developed construct. the analysis in table 3 shows that most of the responses were synonymous across the sites. there were high levels of disagreement in the summary of the cost and time impacts of the covid-19 lockdown assessment. still, a sizeable portion of respondents did allege over-bearing implications for cost and time, while the quantity of material delivery to the site was a significant issue. a chi-square cross-tabulation sectional analysis across the table helps to know which variables are statistically significant in assessing the national lockdown and its aftermath impacts on the construction site. the results show that most statements (the column marked p-value) are significantly at higher levels of agreement. a p-value less than 0.05 signify a substantial contribution and vice visa. in all, the contractor's response impact ranges from material delivery delay, work knowhow implementation, and project time to completion elongation and sudden retrenchment of the casual construction worker who found their daily livelihood from the sectorial activities. furthermore, the aggregated respondent interview responses to the telephonic interview conducted were summarised in table 4. the response shows variant causes of dispute, irrational changes in work schedules, and sometimes unrationed cost claims by contractors, despite the government's limited resources to meet the rising various project requirements. many respondents said that covid-19 has caused them to re-evaluate their existing contractual sum. the inability and failure of the client to intervene in a timely and effective way resulted in many disputes arising. among the most-cited cause of disputes is noncompliance to initial prescripts and improper understanding of the contract law and licenses, even though large percentages of the respondents were aware of contract terms and obligations. this is consistent with findings by barsky (2016), bayat et al. (2019), and alsharef et al. (2021) argue that future dispute resolution for an unforeseen event like covid-19 should emphasise the need for re-negotiation in billing, which is at variance with the various construction claims. table 5 highlights the bottleneck impacts of covid19 found in the traditional workflow and relates solutions to address each one of the emanating challenges in reciprocating the construction company's best solution response to arising conflict. all contacted contractors stated additional costs and project time elongation due to the pandemic. to explain the role of stakeholder, mediator, and negotiator, in alignment with the construction company workforce matrix, time to completion, and rescheduling budget compromised. the inter-relationship in dispute resolution mechanism demands the integration of different stakeholders whose impact can be evaluated using the 'influence grid' model as depicted by chinyio and olomolaiye's (2009) influence grid model in figure 1. figure 1: influence grid model (adopted from chinyio and olomolaiye, 2009) amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 60 table 3: respondents’ size to questionnaires among the six contractors’ site statement description sd d n a sa chi-square-value there is variation in procurement costs during the covid-19 lockdown 4 4 4 3 5 0.000 there is variation in time to project completion after the covid-19 lockdown 5 5 4 3 3 0.000 there is variation in total contractual sum and expected project sum during and after the covid-19 lockdown 4 4 3 4 5 0.000 the work schedule guarantees workers’ safety and minimum risk-bearing in the workforce during the covid-19 lockdown 4 5 4 2 5 0.000 overhead and the indirect cost was sufficiently affected during the lockdown 4 2 5 4 5 0.000 which approach works best for you during the lockdown-interest-base or right-based approach? 3 4 3 5 5 0.000 key: sd = strongly disagree; d = disagree; n = neutral; a = agree; sa = strongly disagree the subsequent section relates to how the influence grid model can be used to resolve disputes based on the technical causes, impacts, and re-evaluation claims by the government agency in executing the project. this four-levelled quadrant served as a determinant towards ascertaining stakeholders' level of engagement' in the construction and execution of the project. the first category in the quadrant was stakeholders classified as ‘high influence/ high interest’. this set of stakeholders was fully involved, and thus they reciprocated accordingly (mgemane, 2012). the second classification was those classified as ‘high influence/lower interest’. with consideration of their disinterest, limited consultations were made with them. however, this category of stakeholders was still consulted as they were highly influential citizens in the rural community (bourne and walker, 2005). the third category was the 'low influence/high-interest group. this set of stakeholders was resourceful and played an essential role in mobilising and engaging other project beneficiaries. their active participation instigated some community members who were previously not interested in the project (fassin, 2009). lastly, the group was classified as ‘low influence/ low interest’. although this group of stakeholders barely played any contributory role, they were occasionally updated with relevant information. thus, based on this precept, these classified sets of stakeholders were engaged at different levels and had differing inputs bringing clarity in achieving the project aim with a high level of satisfaction among beneficiaries. 5. application of conflict resolution amongst the stakeholders the construction of the various facilities was facilitated using the following steps supported by siyongwana and mayekiso (2011). negotiation mediation and conciliation expert assessment adjudication litigation building bridges the intervention of a middleman brings a value chain transition to a more collective community bargaining and professionalism in tolerating each other. the series of negotiations were considered useful mainly because the project manager involved these four qualities – wisdom, fairness, stability, and efficiency. a previous win-lose situation was converted into a win-win bargain (bal et al. 2013). mediation and conciliation were also used amongst disagreeing stakeholders, which eventually was resolved after a month. as regards disputes regarding the quantification and valuation of work done at the site, the opinion of a structural engineer and quantity surveyor was consulted; hence through their expertise, they gave sound and justifiable reasons why the increased bill should be honoured regarding the construction work done at the site location. adjudication and litigation were also exercised when a community member intended to sue one of the stakeholders. amicable settlement of casual workers' wages and salary was resolved through part payment, food subsidies, and promised to note later when financial institutions open to reduce the social poverty and inequality caused by covid-19. amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 61 table 4: respondent’s feedback summary. question respondents /feedback highlight some of the covid -19 impacts you notice on your sites. field changes, prolonged procurement delivery, project delays, and potential claim issues. which methods are most effective in resolving time-toproject completion in construction disputes? answered (in order): party-to-party negotiation; mediation; and, finally, arbitration. is there any discrepancy in the contractual sum/expected contract sum? and if so, do you subscript to follow the dispute resolution administrative process mentioned in the contract? parties’ ability to adhere to contractual notice requirements as well as the dispute resolution administrative process in the contract list common causes of disputes you know arising/affecting workers' safety. – owner-directed changes and errors and/or omissions in the contract documents. are you familiar with the overhead and indirect cost impacts on contract terms and obligations? intimately knowing the contract terms and obligations, which approach will you suggest works best for managing a future unforeseen event like covid-19? interest-based approach or right-based approach both approaches work well if well-coordinated and completed expeditiously; likewise, the importance of timely design documentation and dynamic work scheduling table 5: company label technical issues and bottlenecks related impact of covid-19 company label and work type major bottlenecks encountered solutions a-road necessary equipment movement to the side resulted in the delay in the filtered bed construction to repair the base and sub-based layered in the road section for water seepage control. negotiation b-hous1 the resilience of semi-labourers to indulge in menial work and access to in-house changes to the schedule of work and work re-evaluation. negotiation c-hous2 traditional use of manual adjustment in retrofitting several workers to report and lack of platform for communication. mediation dwater underground leakages control without the mobile app to state precise gis location and for cost wastage estimation. mediation e-building fewer participants in stakeholders’ meetings conducted during weekdays as compared to weekends. conciliation fbuilding construction advises and strategies for communicating with the community members were lacking, culminating in some material missing or stolen on site. conciliation amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 62 6. results discussion testing the formulated hypothesis: ho1: there is no significant difference between the national lockdown and its aftermath impacts on the construction site. the employed online questionnaire distribution and the posed interview schedule were used to test the hypothesis that affirmed/negated the assertion that covid-19 impacts the overall cost and time to project completion, irrespective of the lockdown stages. both the qualitative and quantitative methods substantiate the significance associated with the subject matter in assessing the impacts before and after movement restrictions and on contractors' payment. respondent response affirmed a positive/significant level of effectiveness in the cost and time, irrespective of the lockdown period or stage. the probability value for the chi-square test (0.000) is less than 0.05 (5% level of significance), which negates the hypothesis assertion that there is no significant difference between the national lockdown and its aftermath impacts on the construction site but concludes that the arising dispute call for claims and a fair negotiation strategy in achieving an amicable settlement that meets the different stakeholder and company needs irrespective of their different projects' execution. a general discussion on the analysis of the results was validated with qualitative inferences supported by the literature review. the responses obtained from the questions show litigation was not listed as the top effective method of resolving disputes on construction sites. some contractors' response to the additional cost claim shows the difference in site, while claims on time to project completion was minimal. although. the stakeholder response shows that workers' safety was at minimum risk compared to realistic options for an out-ofcourt settlement. both the initial contractual sum and the expected project cost have not been complied with, irrespective of the contractual obligations required from the client. however, like criticisms made by participants in site b, c, and e., their responses do attest that there is an increased dispute rate, but the response rate has not been accorded the urgency required. cortez and johnston (2020) further mention that mutual representation of needs promotes fairness and justice in satisfactory work done by both parties, while the failure to understand the impacts of the mco and/or comply with contractual obligations represents the more significant cause of disputes. 6.1 categorised themes discussion the data obtained from the annotated abcdef sites' respondents through the questionnaires and interviews were captured and categorised into a set of themes in line with the aim and objectives of this study. in a further attempt to unravel the above six themes, an effort was made to further group them into two general themes: negative consequences and positive consequences, in exploring the different dispute resolution mechanisms for the project's success. the negative impacts denote time to project completion with varying opinions due to miscellaneous logistics as per consideration for workers' safety during the covid-19 pandemic. thus, the positive consequences highlight work quality assurance both in quantity, and quality of material delivery to the site, new payment modality, and additional indirect cost incurred due to delay in project time to completion. 6.2 procurement modality conflicts resolution among the stakeholders among the aftermath of covid-19 disruption of work are disputes which emanated due to inadequate or lack of priority set-up in regulating procurement of construction goods/materials while still maintaining standard quality in the procurement delivery. furthermore, a series of conflicts arose among stakeholders regarding who should bear the risk among the contending construction workers. thus, causing an ideological clash between the consulting engineer (senior) and other construction fraternity workers (junior) on whom overtime claims are awarded. in contrast, a percentage overhead cost is awarded to the professional staff. conflicts of interest among stakeholders in resolving the bottleneck of separating construction procurement from the general procurement acts of government are all emerging gaps to be dealt with in this era of covid-19. the influence of money-bag politicians to capitalise on sub-standard contract execution and design guidance aberration for their selfish campaign propaganda in the electioneering process are emerging issues that conflict resolution diplomats must pay recourse to. since there was no agreement amongst either party, the problem was later dealt with in a court of law. furthermore, the welldetailed contract document averted a series of disputes. a poor or incomprehensive contract document may have resulted in a conflict between the structural engineer and the project manager (bal et al. 2014). • time to project completion according to mohammed et al. (2018), many successful projects should meet not only the required quality output standards but also be cognizant of the budget and time constraints. both the clients and the contractor commit to an agreed time term in satisfying their demands and needs. more often than not, disputes occur due to irregular contract terms and conditions, which can lead to unabated litigation due to divergent alternative views in meeting the overall organisational and individual contractor goals. the resolution mechanism organ examines all positive and negative side-effects characterising the bone of contention before arriving at a timely resolution mechanism that appeals to all. • contraction sum and expected project cost dispute resolution. covid-19 presents the construction industry with the challenge of disrupting strategies for planning, coordinating, and executing various projects, from the initial conceptual cost to the addition of expected indirect project cost to completion variables. to achieve a desirable dispute outcome, negotiation and mediation provide a useful, structured approach to resolving disputes amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 63 in the construction site's situation, as supported by xu et al. (2018). the mediator arranged or called for a meeting in which all parties involved can come together through conflict management stages not limited to preparation, discussion, clarification of goals, readiness towards a win-win outcome, compromise agreement, and implementation of the agreed line of action. though, the execution of the negotiation process is dependent on many determinant factors, such as the mediator's personality, skills, and education level capacity. these chosen design paths may lead to diverse views before arriving at amicable solutions. • worker safety and minimum risk guarantee stakeholder engagement enhances efficiency and effectiveness while implementing the construction project. since the engagement of stakeholders permits the involvement of other parties' commitment to facilitating transparent decision-making, the involvement of stakeholders was no doubt significant in the construction project as their participation had some advantages. the stakeholder involvement in the project was predominantly two sets of individuals. on one side were technocrats, experts, and political authorities; on the other were community members who were the beneficiaries of the intended project (bal et al., 2014). the decision on the project's minimum risk and sustainability stakeholders was premised upon the stakeholder's view, which recommended that stakeholders be involved at the project's inception. such early involvement will create a sense of ownership of the project, enhance commitment amongst involved parties, increase expertise, and contribute intuitive knowledge towards making sense of belonging in the community. • overhead and indirect cost resolution the middleman ensures value for money, work quality satisfaction, personal ego elimination, and inadequate compromise scandal for both the contractor and the client with minimal loss. it proves saving chances for the contractors, which are more likely to continue the work with the other party in the future without rancour (jiang and zhao, 2019). the overhead and indirect costs incurred are usually embedded in the miscellaneous, but this does not arise. thus, the intervention of a mediator provides a note to take this risk from the contract sum without the need for negotiation or an arbitration panel. an announced end of covid -19 restrictions will mean no more laws on social distancing; no curfews or gathering limits; no mask mandates, and zero limits on social gatherings. this slogan of social distancing is a stylish way of dogging work, and casual workers take time to maximise their daily wages. likewise, the arbitration process takes longer appointments fixing all in the name to avoid being infected by the diseases. all these increase the overhead cost and, invariably, the time construction professionals spend handling disputes. • building bridges through an interest-based approach and right-based approach according to oghenechuko and godbless (2018), the interest-based approach seeks parties to bargain and a negotiating process by identifying the individual shared interests rather than dwelling much on their log of claims, while the right-based approach conversely shares the mutual understanding from the other side with a series of rules to guide the conversation. the negotiator leans toward co-operational altitude in achieving an amicable resolution, which tends to reach a satisfactory process of getting the desired results. cooperation has been a pointer in the avoidance mechanism before negotiation efforts by the parties. however, the mediator's task is constrained by some drawbacks when mistrust, emotional barriers, and concerned parties are compelled to participate, thereby shifting the focus from the real issues to an unwillingness to negotiate in the dispute when payment is involved. the egoism tendency to participate cannot be compelled except when ordered by court. the unique experience gained with negotiation, arbitration, and mediation under the interest-based and right-based approaches help in bargaining and bringing professionalism in tolerating each other. negotiation after fracas or disagreement makes the work remain to stand. still, it harms and deters the value gain, thereby rendering the work quality not to appease a common goal (iyiola and rjoub, 2020). however, the three main dimensions of negotiation (procedural, interactional, and distributive justice) are not independent. procedural negotiation refers to the fairness of the process used to address the different party's complaints or problems. in a distributive negotiation, the parties are only looking for their gain. in contrast, integrative negotiation is more difficult because the concern is about the relationship's sustainability with the other person. the legal process dealing with construction disputes is usually tailored to answering why there should be a process and how the process should be applied (chukkol, 2021). it viewed dispute resolution from three perspectives: power, rights, and interests. the legal perspective seeks redress in a law court. the arbitration court process tends to ensure that the concerned parties should be in control of how to deal with the dispute instead of only bystanders in control. the arbitrator dwells on different scales of costs and elongates the case process, which is later reviewed by the courts to award costs. although the recourse to out-of-court settlement is with minimal cost while disaffection on some of the arising irregularity caused by covid-19 is resolved gradually, this line of action entails continuous engagement, dialogue, and involvement of other stakeholders for this non-confrontational approach in determining the management of the crises. on the other hand, the pros of arbitration enjoy the confidentiality and finality of the court. the likelihood of a future relationship may jeopardise with your opposing party, except if an experienced mediator was protracted, then an amicable resolution may not lead to total failure (caputo, 2016). mediations tend to be quicker than litigation, but if an agreement is not made, both parties may have to waste their time fulfilling the agreement. amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 64 though litigation or arbitration may not be cost-effective, it is usually the last option in dispute resolution caused by covid -19. • misconceptions about force majeure the construction industry must also be aware of the serious consequences concerning the assertion of force majeure or frustration in a contract. controversial arguments exist about whether the coronavirus outbreak has frustrated the contract or caused an anticipatory breach regarding project completion time, material delivery logistics, new working environment, and additional costs incurred (lai, 2020). either of these legal rights claims may amount to a breach of the contract. on the contrary, the inclusion of frustration is generally more severer than a force majeure clause insertion. frustration may result in the contract automatically being forfeited or discharged by the law court (casady and baxter, 2020). it can suddenly change the face of the contract rather than suspending performance. the parties affected by force majeure "shall give written notice to the other party immediately upon the occurrence of a force majeure event, and if the said event is of such a nature that it will: "result in the impossibility of performance of an obligation going to the root of the particular contract, the party not so affected (: the other party") shall be entitled, upon receipt of notice of the force majeure event, to terminate further performance of the agreement. the covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected construction companies whose parties construct the negotiation power and ability to read the government argument as matters were resolved through a consultative meeting in defining the issues or receiving force majeure claims—this bargaining strategy help to resolve the conflict through proper communication and understanding of the situation. the negotiation modality approach requires changing emotive supply and demand needs into a customise and refined based on empathy, understanding, and invoking a claim of frustration or force majeure. 7. charting way forward the exploration of the game theory concept will serve as an expert solution in the avoidance of conflict and resolving many of the controversies resulting in the dispute caused by the pandemic in the already weak construction industry. the study cases suggest internal restrictions have been removed or downgraded to 'recommend' where robot technology could be deployed to deliver essential materials, providing advanced relief in managing time to complete the different building projects. also, mastering the act of mediation, negotiation, and reconciliation techniques are evolving innovative means that have not been exhausted in dispute resolution. the distinct roles of negotiators can be compelling if collaborating, compromising, and accommodating what is right are avoided, all in the name of self-ego and personal aggrandisement. hence, low (2020) advocates mediation, negotiation, and reconciliation as promising tools for resolving and minimising construction disputes toward their successful execution. social responsibility and sustainable development are concepts whose integration during covid-19 has led to significant progress in how the construction industry perceives dispute resolution through arbitration and litigation operations mechanisms in project management. it is not only about policies or steps taken to meet legal redress requirements but also about social equality, justice and accountability, bearing in mind the links between service delivery decline and improved policy in support of poverty alleviation and the well-being of workers are paramount. covid -19 has compelled contractors and other stakeholders (the bricklayer, welder, carpenter, clerk of work, and labourer) to work under a stringent strange environment that calls for collaboration among the various parties concerning their wages and compensation. each artisan could compromise and accommodate each other in the interest of the work. the invocation of a force majeure claim with the advent of coronavirus may not constitute part of its concept assumed in the contract's general conditions, intended to fulfill and used in arbitration among the dissatisfied experts in project management. as a general matter of fact, the client representative and the contractors must seek legal advice before a force majeure event or a contract has been frustrated to enjoy the immunity to continue the project instead of being discharged. thus, the design action steps of the research could be deployed by contractors in consultation with the government (client) stakeholders in reaching an amicable solution. 8. conclusion and recommendation regardless of the issues facing the contracted construction projects, this study has explored multi-tier dispute resolution mechanisms not limited to arbitration and mediating adjudication but to other emerging contractors' adopted dispute methods. the study explores different approaches to construction disputes in the context of the covid-19 pandemic experience in a south african environment. using an action research approach where a mixed method was used in showcasing the different styles of negotiations to serve as a managerial intervention in the planning and coordination of the project. the study has provided a broad overview of contractors' adopted dispute resolution methods of mediating adjudication during an unforeseen situation like the covid-19 pandemic. furthermore, the study has shed more light on why successful projects require careful upfront planning to achieve timely project completion within budget while still giving the client the best value for the expended money. the covid-19/pandemic has exposed pricing as a significant contract dispute in the supply and demand chain networks. thus, unlocking new funding options to measure work as emerging lessons learned in covid-19. this will go a long way to curb the discrepancy witnessed towards a peaceful dispute resolution for the construction industry. the study has highlighted the role of negotiation, mediation, and arbitration rather than litigation as a viable future scenario in resolving conflict. thus, a successful negotiation is about constant engagement and discussion amoo o. t.et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 54-67 65 to reach an amicable agreement, compromise to excuse a party's non-performance, or justify the termination of the contract. the study reinvigorates the need for: clear contract language, better design drawings in the hope of unforeseen, risk management training, dynamic processes in project schedule documentation, and the need for proper communication as an effective tool for dispute avoidance and resolution in the post-covid. the study recommends further constructive and robust discourse within the arbitration system to appease the contractors and clients where mediators and negotiators failed to resolve the disputes. limitations of the study this study did not consider the projects on a case-by-case basis based on the contract term, facts, and circumstances but on a lump case. also, the adopted mixed methods are time-consuming, costly, and could be subjected to biased from interviewers. furthermore, the study did not consider the interdisciplinary nature of the different projects. subsequence studies may take broader and similar projects in the same geographical location for key consideration of different styles of negotiations. conflict of interest no conflict of interest was presented. acknowledgements the financial assistance of the national research foundation (nrf) through walter sisulu university 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resolution method. plos one, 12, e0188489. 1182-opawole et al jcbm (2022) 5(2). 1-19 evaluation of compliance of concreting materials to standards in building projects in lagos state, nigeria a. opawole1, o. o. alao2, a. o. yusuf3, e. t. adu4 and m. a. ofoetan5 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5department of quantity surveying, faculty of environmental design and management, obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria. received 08 february 2022; received in revised form 05 may 2022, 21 july 2022 and 12 september 2022; accepted 23 october 2022 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.2.1182 abstract the incessant collapse of high-rise buildings has necessitated research into the compliance of materials — structural components and elements — to standards. this study evaluated compliance of concreting materials with standards in building project delivery. it examined the factors that influence compliance with standards of materials used for producing concrete elements. a quantitative approach was adopted in the study where structured questionnaires were administered to designers and constructors (such as architects, engineers/site supervisors and quantity surveyors) in consulting and contracting organisations in lagos state, nigeria. the data were analysed using frequency distribution, mean score, standard deviation, factor analysis and kruskal wallis test. factors affecting compliance of materials with standards were categorised into construction site-based and procurement-based. these are technical, regulation, procurement, capacity, performance, and skill. the study provides implications for quality building production through improved compliance of concreting materials to standards. it also found the neglect of the use of structural engineers' services and limited standards observance on site. these lead to substandard components and elements production. it therefore, recommends efficient regulatory policies, enforcement mechanisms, improved training and instilling ethical standards among project stakeholders. keywords: building projects, compliance, concreting materials, national standards, project delivery. 1. introduction construction materials are significant inputs in building project delivery. performances in a building project are measured using the criteria, time, budget, and quality (opawole, 2016). the quality component is consequently defined to a greater extent by the specification of materials and components. the number of large-scale building construction project failures and accidents in nigeria in the recent past has raised the need for probing into several issues relating to the standards of materials for concrete component production. the products, mainly in the informal sector, often exhibit quality compromise. recently, the nigerian construction industry has faced many challenges, of which defects and collapse of buildings are inclusive. most building defects and collapses ensued mainly due to non-compliance of the construction industry's professionals to the national standard on selected construction materials (windapo and 1 corresponding author email address: tayoappmail@gmail.com rotimi, 2012; adewoleet al., 2014). according to adenike (2006), grema (2006), and bamisile (2004), compromise in building quality is mainly attributed to materials and workmanship. akinyemi et al. (2016) grouped the causes of building collapse into three: types and quality of materials used and operational and personal problems. where the cause of the collapse is traced to concrete quality, the fault is usually associated with poor aggregates and substandard cement grade (olanitori, 2011; adewole et al., 2014). akinyemi et al. (2016) pointed out that poor concrete mix can lead to building collapse. the issue of compliance with national standards in building projects is now a concern in the nigerian building industry. over the years, most collapsed buildings across the 36 states of nigeria have been linked to poor quality materials and neglect of services of university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 2 qualified professionals (olanitori, 2011). studies have shown that the nigerian building construction industry is dominated by informal construction activities, in which operations are not professionally monitored. as a result, quality breaches in the building industry abound, with structural failures leading ultimately to building collapse (akinyemi et al., 2016; adewoleet al., 2014). the evaluation of some facets of the building industry in nigeria reveals that the acknowledgment of compliance management strategies to national standards is at its low ebb. for example, oludare and oluseye (2016) found that the overall quality management system is the supervision of operatives and work processes. hence, the degree of compliance with selected concreting material national standards in building projects attained is solely dependent on the mastery of the supervisor. this situation is commonly counter-productive, notably when the supervisor lacks knowledge and skills. the noncompliance with selected concreting materials to national standards in nigeria has assumed an uncontrollable dimension. this attribute exhibited in the construction industry largely contributed to the bad image of the construction industry in nigeria and thus suggested multidisciplinary investigations. therefore, this study aims at evaluating compliance with concreting materials standards in building projects by assessing the factors influencing compliance with concreting materials, national standards and factors affecting compliance with national standards; also examining compliance with concreting materials to national standards and the effects of non-compliance on project delivery to enhance construction project delivery. 2. component standards compliances factors and effects according to penn state university libraries (2022), building codes specify minimum standards for the construction of buildings. they are not legally binding. they serve, instead, as "models" for legal jurisdictions to utilise when developing statutes and regulations. building code becomes the law of a particular jurisdiction when formally enacted by the appropriate governmental or private authority. ruya et al. (2017) opined that regulation is synonymous with law, and regulations are rules or norms adopted by the government and backed up by some threat or consequences, usually negative ones in the form of penalties. designing buildings (2022) stated that standards typically refer to published documents that are intended to define the common specifications, methods and procedures that are to be used, while building regulations establish minimum standards to be achieved in the construction of buildings. the national building code (nbc) is designed to be the master source of national standards in relation to the design and construction of buildings in nigeria (anigbogu and anunike, 2014). building materials are materials or components used purposely to construct buildings (omotehinshe et al., 2015). the two main categories of building materials are natural materials such as stone/granite/gravel or coarse aggregates, sand and the like or fine aggregates, and manufactured materials such as cement, reinforcement, irons, metals, tiles, blocks or bricks, concrete, and so forth. building materials constitute the highest percentage of inputs in terms of volume and cost in building construction (elkhalifa & shaddad, 2018). hammaadama and kouider (2017) concluded that sub-standard building materials are one of the leading causes of building collapse. according to twidale (1982), the final product of the crushing of rocks is simply granite chippings. coarse aggregate (stones) is composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica. biotite and muscovite are contained in mica, which are agents of oxidisation and might make concrete strength lesser or weaken over time (bamigboyeet al., 2019). since granite is good in strength, appearance and resistance to weathering, it should be void of excessive crystals of mica-biotite and muscovite. care should be taken to select suitable quality materials for building construction (anthony, 2012). it is essential to carry out tests on the water to be used, sieve analysis on aggregates, tensile strength on reinforcement and also ensure there is a design mix to follow during construction (bamigboyeet al., 2019). the key physical parameter used to classify and compare portland cement includes bulk density, relative density (specific gravity), fineness, setting time, strength, soundness, the heat of hydration, and loss on ignition (nwankwojike et al., 2014). in accordance with the specifications of the bureau of indian standards (bis) and european standard en 197-1, portland cement used for intensive load-bearing superstructures is expected to exhibit a minimum of 3.1 specific gravity, maximum of 10% fineness, consistency range of 26 to 33% and initial/final setting time of not less than 30 minutes/not more than 600 minutes respectively. 2.1 compliance with national standards in the construction industry the nigerian construction industry has relied majorly on british and american standards and codes for construction materials and components. professionals that specify materials (architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors), sometimes lack adequate knowledge of the function and performance of the materials and components they recommend (adafin et al., 2011; folorunsho and ahmad, 2013). several studies have been carried out on standards relating to construction materials. these studies include voskresenskaya and voronaslibinskaya (2018), focusing on the development of national standards pertaining to the safety and security of high-rise buildings in russia; angelino (2019), focusing on developing better design standards for the construction industry in the uk and ndongo et al. (2020) concentrating on the current situation on the use of building construction standards in congo-brazzaville. in the last decades, much has not been done on the national standards relating to construction materials in the nigerian construction industry as obtained in other countries (anigbogu and anunike, 2014). past studies on compliance with national standards include factors influencing compliance with safety standards guidelines in public secondary schools in kitui central sub county, kitui county (muthiani, 2016); contextual, structural, and behavioural factors influencing the adoption of industrialised building system (zakaria et opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 3 al., 2018); analysis of some factors driving ecological sustainability in construction firms (bamgbade et al., 2019). also, there has been a lot of research evaluating compliance in various fields. among these research works are sharia compliance in the construction industry (annabi et al., 2017); an assessment of quality compliance using concrete test mechanism in saudi arabia (alghamdi, 2020); research on the construction of ecosystem in compliance risk management of foreign trade enterprises in fujian province (hu, 2020); and oludare and oluseye (2016) focusing on quality management practices among construction firms. it is noteworthy to emphasise the impacts of non-compliance with national standards in the construction industry. these impacts are usually expected to affect products' quality negatively. previous studies have also been conducted relative to the effects of non-compliance but not specifically on the impact of non-compliance with national standards. these studies include assessing the effects of non-compliance and enforcement of building safety regulations on construction sites in the assin north municipality (dei, 2016), challenges facing building code compliance in new zealand (nwadike & wilkinson, 2020) and antecedents and consequences of public procurement noncompliance behaviour (tukamuhabwa, 2012). the nigerian construction industry is dominated by informal activities which often do not follow laid down procedures (ezema and olatunji, 2018). the industry's activities cannot be fully monitored due to the informality of their operations. as a result, quality breaches in the materials standards abound, with several structural failures leading ultimately to building collapse. a recurring theme is that lives are lost during simple, routine work. in many cases, an apparent lack of planning and compliance of construction materials with standards contributed to the tragedy (ruya et al., 2017). safety and safeguarding of life have been lacking in the nigerian construction industry (ndirangu, 2009). an underlying belief is that many accidents are not caused by careless workers but by poor adherence to materials standards and control, which ultimately is the responsibility of management (ruya et al., 2017). often collapses are attributed to several factors, including poor quality of materials and construction processes. in this respect, concrete, as an important structural component, deserves research attention if the challenges posed by building collapse (ezema and olatunji, 2018) are to be comprehensively addressed. 2.2 concrete materials’ standards: components, types, grades, and strength arayela and adam (2001) stated that the first thing to question whenever any civil structure fails is the quality/strength of the concrete in it. the strength of any building component made of concrete depends on its two major components, reinforcing steel bars and concrete (nwankwojike et al., 2014). concrete is a composite material mostly used in building projects (arum, 2008). it is a manufactured building material comprising cement, fine aggregates, coarse aggregates, and water with optional additives for improving performance. concrete is the most versatile structural material that offers the flexibility of form not found in other structural materials (ezema and olatunji, 2018). it is composed of coarse granular material implanted in a hard matrix of material (cement or binder) that fills the space among the aggregates and binds them together (gashemi, 2017; arum, 2008). alternatively, concrete can be said to be a compound material that consists of a binding medium, entrenched particles or fragments of aggregates. when freshly mixed, concrete tends to be flexible, therefore, can be used to form any shape. the most common types of concrete in building projects are plain and lightweight concrete, which consists of natural minerals like pumice and scotia and artificial minerals like expanded shales and clay with a density of less than 1920kg/m3 (adewole et al. 2015). others are high-density concrete, also called heavy-weight concrete and ranges in density between 3000 4000kg/m3. it is prepared using reinforcement and high-density crushed rocks as coarse aggregates (ezema and olatunji, 2018). this is also called reinforced cement concrete (rcc). steel in various forms is used as reinforcement to give varying high tensile strengths, and precast concrete refers to numerous shapes cast into moulds in a factory or at the site (adewole et al. 2014). after placement, concrete gains strength quickly, particularly within the first seven days, which is crucial for achieving the needed strength. for determining the strength of concrete, the compressive strength at 28 days is usually considered (arum, 2008). ezema and olatunji (2018) also stated that the strength of concrete primarily depends on the quality of constituent materials, namely cement, aggregates, and water. portland cement is one of the most common building materials on the building site. as stated earlier, cement acts as a binding agent in concrete (odigure, 2009). cement grade is a significant factor that contributes to concrete quality (olanitori, 2011). it is essential in determining the compressive strength of concrete. the cement grades used generally for concrete production in nigeria are grades 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 (kashim, 2014). the standards organisation of nigeria (son) approves grade 32.5 for plastering work and grade 42.5 for general concrete works, while the 52.5 grade is for special projects (ezema & olatunji, 2018). adewole et al. (2014) investigated the effects of these cement grades on concrete compressive strength. the investigation indicated that the compressive strength of concrete produced with cement grade 42.5 is typically higher than that produced with grade 32.5. if the standard 1:2:4 concrete mix is to be utilised, the least cement grade would be 42.5. adewole et al. (2014) noted that surveys supervised by the standard organization of nigeria (son) found that, during the construction of most privately-owned buildings, where concrete trial mixes were not conducted, the standard 1:2:4 mix ratio was used irrespective of the cement grade/strength class. the survey further disclosed that when concrete cubes were made with portland cement grade 32.5 using 1:2:4 and 1:1.5:3 mix ratios, the compressive strengths were less than the 25 megapascals (mpa) and 30mpa cube strengths which are generally recommended for building superstructures and foundations respectively. anigbogu and anunike (2014) discovered that ordinary portland cement packaged in 50kg bags was opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 4 found to vary from 35kg to 45kg in 53% of the shops surveyed. this wide variation in the weight of cement bags may contribute to the poor strength of work items where such cement bags are used. nwankwojike et al. (2014) analysed different cement samples using methods of physical tests and conformity criteria for hydraulic cement specified by indian standards (is 4031:1988), british standards (bs 4550-3.4:1978) and european standard (en 197-1 2011). the results revealed that the respective fineness of the cement samples conforms with the standard specification of 10% maximum. however, the average specific gravity of the cement samples investigated was below the standard value of 3.1 minimum. contrary to general expectations, the 32.5 grade of some cement samples meant for lightweight construction exhibited higher concrete strength than the 42.5 grade of other cement samples designed to construct load-bearing superstructures. this is unexpected because the standard organization of nigeria alleged that the two major grades of portland cement used in nigeria (32.5n/mm 2 and 42.5n/mm 2) are only being misapplied in some instances (etim, 2014). in line with enno and mohsin (2001), the study concluded that all the five brands of portland cement samples used for the study are short of international standards, and substandard 42.5-grade cement constitutes one of the major causes of the high rate of storey-buildings collapse in nigeria (nwankwojike et al., 2014). water is the main element of the concrete mix and plays a vital role in the chemical reaction of cement and aggregates (roy, 2015). the quality and quantity of water used in concrete are also important. roy (2015) asserts that the quality of hardened concrete is strongly impacted by the proportion of water used in concrete, as it influences compressive and flexural strength, permeability, and workability of concrete, as well as the bond between concrete and reinforcement. odusote & adeleke (2012) found that from the test carried out on reinforcement bars collected from collapsed buildings, the brittleness of reinforcement caused by the presence of high concentrations of sulphur and phosphorous with iron (ii) sulfide (fes) and iron phosphide (fe3p) present (harmful materials) may have been responsible for many collapses of buildings in nigeria. in a similar study, bamigboye et al. (2019) discovered that the material's inherent flexibility had been significantly altered and compromised, which invariably aided the collapse of the buildings. fine aggregates serve the purpose of filling the open spaces in between the coarse particles by reducing the porosity of the final mass. in some cases, granite quarry dust is often partially traded for sand in varying percentages to achieve satisfactory concrete strengths. this helps to reduce the intensity of sand mining which has adverse environmental implications (ezema and olatunji, 2018). 2.3 factors influencing compliance with concreting materials national standards compliance with national standards in the construction industry is influenced by factors that may be intrinsic or extrinsic (dimaggio and powell, 1983). tabish and jha (2015) identified common factors influencing compliance: familiarity, monitoring, professionalism, sanctions, perceived inefficiency, and contractors' resistance. mwelu et al. (2018) observed that noncompliance is induced by; self-interest, weak enforcement mechanisms, inefficient regulatory frameworks, and unprofessional conduct. zadawa et al. (2015) concluded that misconceptions and unfamiliarity with procurement policies relatively undermined compliance in the nigerian construction industry. where building laws and regulations exist to achieve effective development control (ezema and olatunji, 2018), construction implementations still fall short of expectations because of unethical contract practices coupled with a weak regulatory framework (longtau et al., 2016; fernandez, 2014). another major challenge of the industry is the preponderance of informal activities. according to the international labour organisation (ilo), the informal sector in sub-saharan africa, of which nigeria is prominent, is globally regarded as the largest concentration of informality (ilo, 2002). the implication is that many industry activities are not completely captured in national economic accounting. this situation presents a considerable challenge to public programme planning and implementation. in nigeria, this informality translates to a lack of regulations and is also primarily responsible for the high rate of building collapse (ezema and olatunji, 2018). windapo and rotimi (2012) had earlier attributed the major factors of building collapse to structural failure, poor supervision, workmanship, and use of substandard materials. such factors characterise the nigerian informal building and infrastructure procurement systems, eventually influencing noncompliance with standards. however, it is pertinent to note that most collapsed buildings are residential, procured in the unregulated system, calling on governments and professional bodies to act promptly for the safety of lives and property. 2.4 effects of non-compliance with national standards on building projects delivery the effects of non-compliance with national standards have significantly depleted the effectiveness of the nigerian construction industry. lind and brunes (2014) reported that non-compliance of construction materials and processes to standards in the public sector leads to extra cost and waste of time in procurement. dei (2016) identified the effects of non-compliance with national standards on building project delivery to include accidents on site, loss of lives, decrease in productivity, project delay, and excess expenditure in the form of compensation. building project research shows that nigeria has experienced consistent building failures and collapses owing to non-compliance with prescribed standards. for example, 64 buildings collapsed between 1974 and 2011. these collapsed buildings reported include a guesthouse at ikotun-egbe, lagos state, on 12th september 2014 and a three-storey building housing a school at ita-faaji, lagos-island, lagos state. it is noteworthy that faulty designs and improper supervision, the leading cause of non-compliance of the approved opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 5 construction materials to standards, predominantly caused these collapsed buildings in lagos state. incidences of collapsed buildings in nigeria are only moderately recorded in literature; there has been persistent collapse of buildings in all parts of the country, but more in the civic areas in large numbers. this is why more failures have been recorded in lagos state than in any other part of the federation (windapo and rotimi, 2012; ebehikhalu and dawam, 2014). 3. research methodology 3.1 study area lagos state in south-western nigeria is the country's commercial nerve centre, which hosts many reputable consultancy and construction companies. as mentioned, the state has witnessed more building collapses than any other part of nigeria (ebehikhalu and dawam, 2014). this study describes respondents' opinions on compliance with national standards regarding concreting materials forming the load-carrying elements in buildings. 3.2 questionnaire design a quantitative research strategy based on primary data considered suitable for the study was adopted (cloete, 2002). according to quinlan (2011), quantitative research usually involves gathering numeric data systematically. on that note, a structured questionnaire, an effective data collection instrument for measuring respondents' opinions and attitudes, was used (van laerhoven et al., 2004). the survey questionnaire was close-ended, which offers easy and relatively quick analysis (kothari and gary, 2004). the questionnaire was developed based on the literature review's constructs and divided into two parts. part 1 was designed to gather data on the respondents' academic and professional profiles, as well as respondents' experience in the construction industry. part 2, used in collecting data on the study's objectives, was divided into three sections. section one examined compliance with concreting materials national standards. section two assessed construction site-based factors influencing compliance with standards of concreting materials and procurement-based factors affecting compliance with national standards. section three sourced data on the effects of non-compliance with national standards on building project delivery. according to leedy and ormrod (2014), likert-type or frequency scales use fixed-choice response formats designed to measure opinions. for compliance with concreting materials national standards, the assessment was such that 1= very low, 2= low, 3= moderate, 4= high and 5= very high. for construction site-based factors influencing compliance with standards of concreting materials and procurement-based factors affecting compliance with national standards, 1= very insignificant, 2= not significant, 3= significant, 4= more significant and 5= most significant. for effects of non-compliance with national standards on building project delivery, 1= very insignificant, 2= not significant, 3= significant, 4= more significant and 5= most significant. 3.3 questionnaire administration and response rate the study's target populations were construction professionals in consultancy and contracting organisations in lagos state. mouton and prozensky (2001) indicated that the availability of data, population size, and balance between cost and the desired accuracy could significantly influence the sampling frame. for this reason, randomisation was employed to ensure an unbiased sample. sixty randomly selected construction professionals comprising practising architects, engineers/site supervisors, and quantity surveyors formed the sample size. each respondent was chosen entirely by chance, not biased systematically, and each member of the population had the same chance of being included in the sample (kothari and gary, 2004). sixty structured questionnaires were self-administered on the randomly selected practising architects, engineers, and quantity surveyors. forty (40) valid copies, which represent a response rate of 66.67%, were returned and considered adequate for analysis since idrus and newman (2002) recommend a minimum of 30.0% rate for construction management studies. cronbach alpha was used to test the reliability of the responses provided for the study objectives. since the likert scale was adopted for the study, it was imperative to calculate and report cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency and reliability of the scales. cronbach's alpha ranges between 0 and 1. the closer the coefficient is to 1 the higher the internal consistency of the items in the likert scale. bonett and wright (2015) stated that cronbach's alpha (α) > 0.6 is adequate. the cronbach's alpha for compliance of concreting materials to national standards, construction site-based factors influencing compliance with standards of concreting materials, procurement-based factors influencing compliance with national standards, and effects of noncompliance with national standards on building projects delivery are 0.878, 0.632, 0.875, and 0.803 respectively. this implies that the responses provided are reliable for carrying out this research. 3.4 factor analysis factor analysis is typically used to explore the underlying structure of the set of variables as the influence factors in this research. the study used the technique to reduce the factors to manageable components. there are three main steps in conducting factor analysis – step (i) assessment of the suitability of the data for factor analysis. the data was first assessed for suitability of use of factor analysis. it includes the kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo) measure of sampling adequacy and bartlett's test of sphericity. the kmo index ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 .6 suggested as the minimum value for a good factor analysis (tabachnick and fidell, 2007; oboirien, 2019). the value of the kmo (0.672) test is shown in table 1, indicating the data obtained were sufficient for factor analysis, and bartlett's test of sphericity (0.000) was very significant. opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 6 step (ii) factor extraction involves determining the smallest number of factors that best represent the interrelationships among the set of variables. there are a variety of approaches that can be used to identify (extract) the number of underlying factors or dimensions. the most commonly available extraction technique is principal components. according to field (2005), for factor analysis to yield precise and reliable results and to proceed to the factor extraction stage, only factors with an eigenvalue of 1.0 or more are retained for further investigation. eigenvalues greater than 1.0 was the criterion on which factor extraction was based. step (iii) factor rotation and interpretation. once the number of factors has been determined, the next step is to try to interpret them. to assist in this process, the factors were ‘rotated’. this does not change the underlying solution. instead, it presents the pattern of loadings in a manner that is easier to interpret—the rotation shows which variables clump together. from the content of the variables, component interpretations were proposed. the 20 procurement factors influencing compliance with standards were reduced to six principal components. the cumulative percentage of variance, as explained by the six components, accounted for 75.99%. this shows that six components can account for 75.99% of the common variance shared by the 20 variables. the obliquely rotated components matrixes of the six major components with their nomenclature and loading factors are presented in table 5. spss version 20 was used in the analysis. 3.5 kruskal-wallis’s test kruskal-wallis’s test is used to determine the difference in the opinions of the groups of respondents. the kruskalwallis h test (sometimes also called the “one-way anova on ranks”) is a rank-based nonparametric test that can be used to determine if there are statistically significant differences between two or more groups of an independent variable on a continuous scale or ordinal dependent variable (ostertagova et al., 2014). it is considered the nonparametric alternative to the one-way anova and an extension of the mann-whitney u test to allow the comparison of more than two independent groups. kruskal-wallis’s influences, effects, factors’ ranks, and response opinions are shown in tables 3, 4, 5, and 7. spss version 20 was used in the analysis. 4. data analysis 4.1 profile of the respondents the results of the analysis are presented in table 2. the profiles of the respondents comprise their organisations, highest academic qualifications, professional affiliations, years of experience, and several projects participated in in the last five years. most respondents (70.0%) work in contracting firms, while (30.0%) work in consultancy. on the highest academic qualifications of the respondents, about (75.0%) were first degree holders, (22.5%) were higher national diploma (hnd) holders while (and 2.5%) had other academic qualifications. of the profession, engineers/ site supervisors had the highest representation (45.0%), followed by quantity surveyors (40.0%). however, the least proportion of respondents were architects (15.0%). professionally, 45.0% of the respondents were registered with the nigerian society of engineers (nse), about (40.0%) with the nigerian institute of quantity surveyors (niqs), and (15.0%) with the nigerian institute of architects (nia). more than half of the respondents (55.0%) had more than ten years of experience in the construction industry. respondents’ years of experience in the industry fall into a modal class of 10-15 years on an average of 8 projects. it can be seen from the above analysis of respondents’ profiles that they possessed adequate qualifications and experience to supply reliable data for this research. 4.2 findings and discussions 4.2.1 compliance of concreting materials to national standards results of the evaluation of compliance with concreting materials' national standards are presented in table 3. five of the identified factors have mean scores (ms) ranging from 3.50 and 4.30. highest compliance is reported on a 0.45:0.60 water/cement ratio with 4.30 ms. this is followed by cement grade (42.5) with an ms of 3.65, reinforcement grade 3.60 ms, aggregates grading 3.53 ms and reinforcement grade 40 for concreting with an ms of 3.50. the significant compliance of the water/cement ratio could be due to the concrete placement mode (usually by head pan) and satisfactory workability. good water/cement ratio concretes are easier to place in formwork and workable. when concrete complies with the water-cement ratio standard, it prevents seepages through joints in the formwork. this result agrees with roy (2015), who opined that the water/cement ratio is the ratio of the mass of water to the mass of cement added to concrete and found that the quality of hardened concrete is strongly impacted by the proportion of water used in the concrete; as it influences compressive and flexural strengths, permeability, workability and the bond between concrete and reinforcement. as posited by adewole et al. (2014) and ezema and olatunji (2018), the standards organisation of nigeria (son) approves grade 32.5 for plastering, grade 42.5 for general concretes and grade 52.5 for special projects. cement grade also ranks high, probably due to varied grades of cement and manufacturers' specifications. table 1: kmo and bartlett's test for factors influencing compliance with national standards kaiser-meyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy. .672 bartlett's test of sphericity approx. chi-square 412.825 df 190 sig. .000 opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 7 table 2: profile of the respondents respondents' profile frequency % nature of the organisation contracting firms 28 70.0 consultancy firms total 12 40 30.0 100.0 highest academic qualification of respondents ond/hnd 9 22.5 b.sc/b.tech 30 75.0 others total 1 40 2.5 100.0 professional affiliation of respondents nia 6 15.0 news 16 40.0 nse total 18 40 45.0 100.0 years of experience the respondent in the construction industry 0-5 6 15.0 5-10 12 30.0 10-15 5 12.5 15-20 4 10.0 above 20 total 13 40 32.5 100.0 mean= 13.75 years number of projects involved within the last five years 1-5 10 25.0 5-10 11 27.5 10-15 3 7.5 15-20 3 7.5 above 20 total 13 40 32.5 100.0 mean= 13 projects this result concurs with adewole et al. (2014), who concluded that the compressive strength of concrete produced with grade 42.5 is typically higher than that of cement grade 32.5. the ranks of grade 60 reinforcement for concreting, aggregates grades and grade 40 reinforcement for concreting should be due to their importance in structural stability. structural failures are difficult and expensive to correct; hence engineers avoid them in construction (ruya et al. 2017). five materials whose compliances rank low are 12mm hy reinforcement bar for slabs 3.27 ms, 12mm hy reinforcement bar for concrete in foundation 3.17 ms, superplasticisers as concrete admixtures 3.13 ms, 16mm high yield (hy) reinforcement for beams and 8mm hy reinforcement as stirrups 2.92 ms and cement types (ordinary portland cement) with 2.82 ms. the insignificant compliances of 12mm hy reinforcement bars for slabs and 12mm hy reinforcement bars for concrete in the foundation could be explained by the usual substitution of 12mm bars with 10mm bars by contractors who see little or no difference in the strength impact of the two sizes. this is usually among quacks that rely on experiences from previous similar projects where stability was achieved and sustained. this finding aligns with olanitori (2011), who linked building collapse to the inappropriate placement of steel reinforcement. many professionals in the industry rarely use admixtures except in extreme situations; this could account for using superplasticisers as concrete admixtures. kruskal wallis test was used to assess the difference in the opinion expressed by respondents on concreting materials compliance with national standards. the result shows no significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) in their opinion. 4.3 assessment of construction site-based factors influencing compliance with standards of concreting materials the ranking and kruskal wallis test of construction sitebased factors influencing compliance of concreting materials to standards are shown in table 4. the overall ranking of 12 factors out of the identified 16 have mean scores ranging from 3.50 to 4.88. this implies that these 12 factors were more significant in influencing compliance with standards of concreting materials. however, the topmost five significant factors that influence compliance with standards in the materials are site quality control 4.88 ms, non-adherence to concrete mix ratio 4.82 ms, supervision by local authorities 3.83 ms, use of low cement grade 3.82 ms, and use of uncertified construction supervisors 3.78 ms ranking 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively. the least five significant factors are non-compliance with aggregate size 3.5 ms, non-compliance with reinforcement grade 3.45 ms, use of poor-quality materials 3.35 ms, polluted and unclean water 3.35 ms, artisans-based supervisions only opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 8 3.03 ms whose ranks are 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th respectively. site quality control ranks high among the factors because actual executions occur on-site. using standardbased specifications notwithstanding, if site production falls below the design, product quality becomes low. poor product quality control has been identified in the informal construction sector. previous research has drawn a relationship between the informal procurement routes and building collapse in nigeria (ebehikhalu & dawam, 2014; fagbenle and oluwunmi, 2010). although the construction industry differs from manufacturing, quality control is primarily used in manufacturing. due to the free market nature of the nigerian construction industry and the myriad of informal building and infrastructure procurement activities, construction sites using unskilled labour as quality controllers or officers are prevalent. this finding agrees with ezema and olatunji (2018) and ruya et al. (2017), who identified the preponderance of informal activities in the construction industry as a significant factor and contributor to quality compromise. non-adherence to the specified concrete mix also ranked high, reflecting quality compromise, poor workmanship and lack of adequate technical expertise prevalent in most nigerian construction sites. many private clients and contractors usually do not engage professionals in construction projects. as an important constructional element, the type of concrete and the compressive or tensile strengths required determine the mix ratio and cement grade specified by the structural engineer. this finding agrees with akinyemi et al. (2016), who observed that poor concrete mixes during construction result in weak load-bearing elements, eventually leading to collapses. the use of low-grade cement and uncertified construction supervisors also rank high, reflecting the disposition of both clients and contractors to tow the paths of least resistance and embark on corner cuttings. many clients are unwilling to purchase the right quality and quantities of the needed construction materials. several contractors engaged in such unprofessional acts by cutting corners for profit maximisation. ezema and olatunji (2018) noted that the strength of concrete primarily depends on the quality of the constituent materials, namely; cement, aggregates, and water for mixing. local authorities must uphold the public's interest and ensure compliance with statutory requirements. in this study, the extent of supervision by local authorities again ranks high. this could be because of the state of the construction's public service, which is plagued by inefficiency, corruption, and kickbacks exhibited by members of the tendering board, contractors and their employees. this is corroborated by longtau et al. (2016), who opined that construction implementation falls short of expectations due to unethical practices and weak regulatory frameworks. as stated in the methodology, kruskal wallis was used in testing the difference in the opinions of groups of respondents. the result shows that 15 of the 16 identified factors had p-values greater than 0.05, implying that the respondents' opinions on the fifteen factors were not significantly different. however, there was a significant difference (p-value = 0.010) in the respondents' opinion regarding one of the factors, which was 'the use of uncertified construction supervisors. 4.4 procurement-based factors influencing compliance with national standards the results of the assessment of the procurement factors influencing compliance of the concreting materials to national standards are presented in table 5. the overall ranking of the identified 20 factors has mean scores of between 3.12 and 3.72. the topmost five significant factors are procurement policies 3.72 ms, construction methodology 3.72 ms, professionalism 3.63 ms, inefficient regulatory framework 3.62 ms, and networking 3.62 ms. the least five significant factors are inadequate funding 3.26 ms, procurement stakeholders' training 3.26 ms, labour skills 3.20ms, supervision 3.13 ms and familiarity with regulatory framework 3.12 ms. procurement policies comprising ignorance, misconceptions, and unfamiliarity are rife in the informal procurement routes in the nigerian building industry. this means that several building site participants are not conversant with the procurement policy. hence, compliance becomes an arduous task. this could explain why procurement policy ignorance ranks highest among the most significant influence factors. this concurs with zadawa et al. (2015), dimaggio and powell (2015), and tabish and jha (2015), who identified procurement policies as a significant factor influencing compliance with the standard of materials. construction methodology ranks high because it is a vital part of the method statement and an important document to the contractor. project success hinges on the adopted construction methodology; unfortunately, many contractors skip the preparation and use of construction methodology. construction methodology is vital for meeting compliance with materials standards because it considers risks, constraints, opportunities, and legal and contractual requirements. professionalism ranks high as it greatly influences compliance with standards. it comprises codes of conduct and professional ethics, which observance is mandatory for various professionals. moreover, the status, methods, characters and standards expected of professionals align with national standards. embracing professionalism by construction professionals enhances their production compliance with standards. this agrees with the findings of hemström et al. (2017), who noted professionalism as a significant factor influencing compliance with standards. also, ranking high is an inefficient regulatory framework (system of regulations and means of work enforcement that are inefficient). this results from weak enforcement by the appropriate authority (ruyaet al., 2017). the current regulatory framework in nigeria results in professional supremacies (conflicts) due to inadequacy in the boundary specifications of the various professionals’ responsibilities (grimshaw, 2001). ruya et al. (2017) and mwelu et al. (2018) noted that self-interest, weak enforcement mechanisms, inefficient regulatory framework, and unprofessional conduct induce noncompliance. opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 9 kruskal wallis test was used to assess whether there is a statistically significant difference in the respondents' opinions. the result shows that the twenty factors had pvalues greater than 0.05, which implies that the respondents are unanimous in their opinion. 4.5 variables reduction the total variances explained by the 20 variables evaluated are shown in table 6. an eigenvalue greater than 1.0 was the criterion on which the factor analysis was based. procurement factors influencing compliance with standards were reduced to six (6) principal components. the cumulative percentage of variance, as explained by the six components, accounted for 75.99%. this shows that six components can account for 75.99% of the common variance shared by the 20 variables. the rotated components matrixes of the six major components with their nomenclature and loading factors are presented in table 6. as shown in figure 1, the scree plots revealed the variables with an eigenvalue of 6.196%, which accounted for 30.981% of the observed variance. figure 1: scree plot of factors influencing compliance with national standards technical-related factors explained 30.98% of the overall variance. the component is clustered with "faulty design" (0.538), "construction methodology" (0.775), "contractor's resistance" (0.882), "nature of the material" (0.661) and "ambiguity" (0.817). the significance of "contractor's resistance" explained to a greater extent the horrible experience that occurred when regulatory rules were not strictly adhered to. deviations from structural engineering drawings and specifications as provided expose the client to financial risk and could cause major defects in the building project. the finding on "contractor's resistance" agrees with dimaggio and powell (1983), who identified contractor's resistance as a common factor affecting compliance in different fields. the ambiguity, which described the inability of the contractor or the supervisor to clearly understand what regulatory policies and contract documents stipulate before embarking on the project, agrees with mwelu et al. (2018) that the regulatory framework should be written in plain language for clear translation. regulation-related factors explained 16.72% of the overall variance, and it consists of "familiarity with the regulatory framework" (0.782), "inefficient regulatory framework" (0.741), "monitoring" (0.847) and "professionalism" (0.709). the finding concurs with mwelu et al. (2018) that non-compliance is induced by; inefficient regulatory framework and unprofessional conduct. olayiwola and adeleye (2005) also found the non-availability of an efficient regulatory framework and lack of a long-term policy plan for infrastructure development as key factors to non-compliance with standards. the nigerian building industry faces an inefficient regulatory framework that undermines compliance with national standards. procurement-related factors explained 10.08% of the overall variance. the component is clustered with "misconception" (0.717), "procurement policies" (0.882), "weak enforcement mechanisms" (0.662), "self-interest" (0.702) and "inadequate funding" (0.559). the significance of "procurement policies" explains the extent of procurement policies made by the government to harmonise other existing government rules and strategies by regulating standards and formulating the legal framework guiding compliance. consistency of government in regulations change in nigeria almost with changes in administrations is supported by the results of opawole et al. (2016). thus, deliberate changes in procurement policies affect professionals' compliance with national standards. this finding concurs with zadawa et al. (2015), which concluded that in nigeria's public construction sector, misconception and unfamiliarity with procurement policies critically undermined compliance. also, mwelu et al. (2018) observed that non-compliance is significantly induced by self-interest and weak enforcement mechanisms. forsythe (2015) and isaac and navon (2014) observed that continuous monitoring of construction projects enhances output by taking corrective actions that will boost compliance in procurement systems. capacity-related factors explained 7.10% of the overall variance. this comprises networking (0.695), supervision (0.741) and procurement stakeholder's training (0.854). the extent of supervision of building projects determines the efficiency of output. the study reveals that lack of supervision at the construction site is the cause of poor building project delivery, which couldalso lead to variations in the project cost. this finding agrees with the public procurement and disposal of public assets authority (ppdaauthority, 2016), which suggested that training and instilling ethical standards among procurement stakeholders boost professionalism. this could be achieved via academic qualifications, skills, and networking. opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 10 sd = standard deviation, rk = rank, kw sig. = kruskal wallis significance table 3: compliance of concreting materials to national standards s/n factors overall contracting firm group architectural and quantity surveying consulting group engineering consulting firm group kw sig. mean (ms) sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk 1 water/cement ratio (0.45:0.60 4.30 1.60 1 4.06 1.31 1 4.00 0.89 2 4.94 7.31 1 0.080 2 cement grade used (42.5) 3.65 1.10 2 3.42 0.89 9 3.88 1.31 3 3.39 0.98 3 0.276 3 reinforcement grade: grade 60 for concreting 3.60 1.55 3 3.01 1.93 14 4.19 1.17 1 2.94 1.63 14 0.051 4 grades of aggregates (well-graded aggregates) 3.53 1.09 4 3.50 0.97 6 3.56 1.21 7 3.39 0.98 3 0.621 5 reinforcement grade: grade 40 for concreting 3.50 1.32 5 3.37 1.38 10 3.63 1.26 5 3.17 1.34 8 0.214 6 28 days curing period for 25n/mm2 compressive strength 3.48 1.13 6 3.83 0.98 3 3.50 1.21 9 3.33 1.14 5 0.608 7 concrete mix (1:2:4) 3.47 1.11 7 3.33 1.21 11 3.56 1.15 6 3.44 1.1 2 0.865 8 size of aggregates: 20mm diameter for coarse aggregates 3.38 1.28 8 3.50 1.52 7 3.56 1.26 8 3.17 1.25 6 0.610 9 16mm hy reinforcement for columns and 10mm hy reinforcement as stirrups 3.35 1.49 10 4.00 1.55 2 3.38 1.54 12 3.11 1.45 11 0.431 10 use of hy reinforcement bar for construction 3.35 1.39 9 3.83 1.60 5 3.44 1.50 11 3.11 1.23 10 0.423 11 4.75mm diameter for fine aggregates 3.33 1.46 11 3.50 1.76 8 3.44 1.46 10 3.17 1.43 9 0.792 12 12mm hy reinforcement for slabs 3.27 1.32 12 3.83 1.17 4 3.19 1.52 15 3.17 1.20 6 0.534 13 12mm hy reinforcement for concrete in the foundation 3.17 1.43 13 3.17 1.60 13 3.25 1.34 14 3.11 1.53 12 0.975 14 superplasticisers as concrete admixtures 3.13 1.34 14 3.17 1.47 12 3.69 1.25 4 2.61 1.24 16 0.068 15 16mm hy reinforcement for beams and 8mm hy reinforcement as stirrups 2.92 1.46 15 2.67 1.63 15 2.94 1.61 16 3.00 1.33 13 0.889 16 types of cement (ordinary portland cement) 2.82 1.04 16 2.33 0.82 16 3.25 1.13 13 2.61 0.92 15 0.093 opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 11 table 4: construction site-based factors influencing compliance with standards of concreting materials s/n factors overall contracting firm group architectural and quantity surveying consulting group engineering consulting firm group kw sig. mean (ms) sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk 1 quality control on site 4.88 1.42 1 4.98 1.28 1 4.69 1.56 1 3.61 1.38 9 0.925 2 non-adherence to concrete mix by workmen 4.82 1.25 2 4.95 0.91 2 4.69 1.59 1 3.56 1.34 12 0.994 3 the extent of supervision by local authorities 3.83 1.08 3 3.97 1.08 6 3.69 1.08 6 4.06 1.11 1 0.317 4 use of low cement grade 3.82 1.26 4 3.83 1.35 8 3.81 1.17 4 3.83 1.43 4 0.942 5 use of wrong professionals for supervision 3.78 1.10 5 3.18 1.24 11 4.38 0.96 3 3.50 1.04 13 0.010* 6 nature of consistent materials 3.72 1.20 6 4.33 0.82 4 3.50 1.37 8 3.72 1.13 6 0.388 7 non-compliance with reinforcement bar size 3.65 1.33 7 2.83 0.98 13 3.81 1.17 4 3.78 1.52 5 0.179 8 absence of sanctions for professionals for non-compliance 3.60 1.32 8 2.83 1.17 14 3.50 1.41 9 3.94 1.21 2 0.183 9 cost of concreting materials 3.57 1.45 9 3.83 1.17 7 3.44 1.50 10 3.61 1.54 10 0.869 10 absence of sanctions for labour for noncompliance 3.53 1.43 10 4.17 1.60 5 3.19 1.56 14 3.61 1.24 7 0.282 11 level of training of labour 3.53 1.43 10 2.83 1.60 15 3.31 1.49 12 3.94 1.26 3 0.201 12 non-compliance with aggregate size 3.50 1.41 12 3.50 1.05 9 3.44 1.55 11 3.56 1.46 11 0.952 13 non-compliance with reinforcement grade 3.45 1.65 13 3.17 2.04 12 3.56 1.55 7 3.44 1.69 14 0.932 14 non-use of quality materials 3.35 1.42 15 4.50 0.84 3 3.25 1.24 13 3.06 1.59 16 0.090 15 lack of test of water 3.35 1.33 14 3.17 0.98 10 3.13 1.50 15 3.61 1.29 8 0.535 16 dependence on artisans only for supervision 3.03 1.27 16 2.50 0.55 16 3.12 1.46 16 3.11 1.28 15 0.695 sd = standard deviation, rk = rank, kw sig. = kruskal wallis significance, *kw significant factors with p-value ≤ 0.05 \ opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 12 table 5: procurement-based factors influencing compliance with national standards s/n factors overall contracting firm group architectural and quantity surveying consulting group engineering consulting firm group kw sig. mean (ms) sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk 1 procurement policies 3.72 1.18 1 3.63 1.03 9 3.81 1.33 6 3.67 1.09 1 0.834 2 construction methodology 3.72 1.21 2 3.37 1.20 13 4.07 1.22 1 3.44 1.10 5 0.229 3 professionalism 3.63 1.37 3 3.76 1.23 1 3.50 1.51 14 3.39 1.34 9 0.125 4 inefficient regulatory framework 3.62 1.30 5 3.30 1.31 17 3.94 1.29 3 3.39 1.34 9 0.419 5 networking 3.62 1.17 4 3.43 1.17 12 3.81 1.17 5 3.44 1.15 6 0.657 6 monitoring 3.60 1.17 6 3.83 1.17 3 4.00 0.89 2 3.17 1.30 15 0.126 7 ethical standards 3.60 1.41 7 3.83 1.47 5 3.88 1.41 4 3.28 1.41 13 0.374 8 contractor's resistance 3.55 1.22 9 3.83 1.17 3 3.44 1.59 16 3.56 0.86 3 0.839 9 faculty design 3.55 1.06 8 3.33 0.82 14 3.75 1.24 8 3.44 0.98 5 0.533 10 perceived inefficiency 3.55 1.43 10 3.50 1.76 10 3.81 1.38 7 3.33 1.41 12 0.598 11 self-interest 3.53 1.26 12 3.83 0.98 2 3.56 1.55 12 3.39 1.09 7 0.653 12 ambiguity 3.53 1.24 11 3.33 1.03 16 3.75 1.39 9 3.39 1.20 8 0.500 13 misconception 3.50 1.38 13 3.67 1.63 7 3.31 1.58 18 3.61 1.15 2 0.855 14 weak enforcement mechanism 3.49 1.21 14 3.83 0.98 2 3.60 1.45 11 3.28 1.07 13 0.503 15 nature of materials 3.30 1.20 15 3.50 0.84 10 3.44 1.26 15 3.11 1.28 16 0.674 16 inadequate funding 3.26 1.21 16 3.00 0.63 18 3.53 1.30 13 3.11 1.28 16 0.598 17 procurement stakeholders' training 3.26 1.60 17 3.67 1.63 7 3.33 1.63 17 3.06 1.63 18 0.689 18 labour skills 3.20 1.49 18 3.33 0.82 14 2.75 1.84 20 3.56 1.25 4 0.400 19 supervision 3.13 1.44 19 3.67 1.21 6 3.19 1.47 19 2.89 1.49 19 0.493 20 familiarity with the regulatory framework 3.12 1.40 20 3.00 1.67 19 3.63 1.26 10 2.72 1.36 20 0.148 sd = standard deviation, rk = rank, kw sig. = kruskal wallis significance. opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 13 table 6: factor loading points component loading total % of variance cumulative % component 1: technical-related factors 6.196 30.981 30.981 faulty design 0.538 construction methodology 0.775 contractor's resistance 0.882 nature of materials 0.661 ambiguity 0.817 component 2: regulation-related factors 3.345 16.723 47.704 familiarity with the regulatory framework 0.782 inefficient regulatory framework 0.741 monitoring 0.847 professionalism 0.709 component 3: procurement-related factors 2.015 10.076 57.779 misconception 0.717 procurement policies 0.882 weak enforcement mechanism 0.662 self-interest 0.702 inadequate funding 0.559 component 4: capacity-related factors 1.402 7.010 64.789 networking 0.695 supervision 0.741 procurement stakeholders' training 0.854 component 5: performance-related factors 1.210 6.048 70.837 ethical standards 0.821 perceived inefficiency 0.756 component 6: skill-related factors 1.031 5.154 75.990 labour skills 0.803 opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 14 table 7: effects of non-compliance with national standards on building projects delivery s/n effects of non-compliance overall contracting firm group architecture and quantity surveying consulting group engineering consulting firm group kw sig. mean (ms) sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk mean sd rk 1 rework 3.97 3.25 1 4.61 1.60 1 3.33 1.50 10 4.67 4.50 1 0.724 2 extra cost of rework 3.87 1.27 2 3.86 1.23 8 3.88 1.31 1 3.83 1.30 2 0.968 3 late project delivery 3.74 1.29 3 3.61 1.22 12 3.87 1.36 2 3.61 1.34 4 0.772 4 major defects in the building 3.68 1.27 4 3.61 1.54 13 3.75 1.00 3 3.56 1.42 5 0.847 5 damage to the environment 3.60 1.37 5 3.70 1.37 10 3.50 1.37 8 3.56 1.46 6 0.746 6 collapse of structures 3.55 1.43 6 4.17 0.98 3 3.63 1.36 5 3.28 1.60 8 0.469 7 cost schedule implementation resulting from rework 3.51 1.36 7 4.00 1.27 6 3.07 1.49 14 3.72 1.23 3 0.249 8 workmen's compensation increase 3.45 1.41 8 4.50 0.84 2 3.19 1.56 12 3.33 1.33 7 0.124 9 government fines 3.32 1.31 9 4.00 1.27 6 3.44 1.26 9 3.00 1.33 12 0.252 10 reduction in the nation's gdp 3.31 1.44 10 4.00 1.10 5 3.53 1.51 7 2.89 1.41 13 0.251 11 license termination 3.30 1.76 11 3.50 1.98 14 3.75 1.53 4 2.83 1.86 15 0.381 12 material wastage 3.28 1.49 12 4.17 1.60 4 3.06 1.53 15 3.17 1.38 9 0.263 13 poor productivity 3.13 1.59 13 3.80 1.64 9 3.19 1.56 12 2.89 1.64 14 0.574 14 image tarnishing 3.10 1.37 14 3.17 1.60 15 3.19 1.52 11 3.00 1.24 11 0.924 15 partial disability of site workers resulting from structure collapse 3.08 1.47 15 3.67 1.51 11 2.87 1.59 16 3.06 1.39 10 0.496 16 loss in revenue 3.07 1.51 16 2.83 1.47 16 3.56 1.41 6 2.72 1.57 16 0.252 sd = standard deviation, rk = rank, kw sig. = kruskal wallis significance. opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 15 performance-related factors explained 6.048% of the overall variance. it comprises ethical standards (0.821) and perceived inefficiency (0.756). concerning ethical standards, if continuous training and codes of professional ethics are significant factors among the stakeholders, a breach of ethical standards reduces and enhances contractor compliance with national standards. this concurs with hemstromet al. (2017), who concluded that contractors could influence project output via professional skills. skill-related factors explained 5.15% of the overall variance. it is only clustered with labour skills (0.803). it emerged that the skill of the labour force employed on a building project impacts the outcome. thus, a gang of skilled labour should be used where efficient building project delivery is paramount to the contractor and the client. 4.6 assessment of effects of non-compliance with national standards in building projects delivery the results of the assessment of the effects of noncompliance of materials for concreting components to standard on building project delivery are shown in table 7. the 16 variables evaluated have 3.00 and above ms. this is interpreted as either significant or very significant in the assessment scale. the top five significant effects are rework 3.97 ms, rework cost 3.87 ms, late project delivery 3.74 ms, major defects on building 3.68 ms, and damage to the environment 3.60 ms. the least effects are also rated high; materials wastage 3.28 ms, poor productivity 3.13 ms, image tarnishing 3.10 ms, building collapse-induced accidents 3.08 ms and revenue losses 3.07 ms. rework as the effect of non-compliance with standards in the nigerian construction industry is supported by the findings of yusuf (2016) and doloi et al. (2012). they identified rework as a significant contractorrelated effect influencing construction project delivery and, eventually, a time overrun factor. reworks are necessitated by poor performance, which in the first instance, is evidence of non-compliance with standards. the high ranking of rework cost reflects its financial implications, which lind and brunes (2014) found as an effect of non-compliance with the standard that lead to cost overrun and project delay. project delivery behind schedule also ranked high, presumably because of extra time needed to remedy defects resulting from the use of sub-standard materials. studies such as yusuf (2016), ameh and osegbo (2011) and aibinu and odeyinka (2006) found project delay a common occurrence in the nigerian construction industry. non-compliance with concreting materials translates to poor quality structural members resulting in a building collapse, which is supported by the findings of babatunde and opawole (2009), and ezema and olatunji (2018). kruskal wallis test was used to assess the difference in the opinions of the respondents on the effects of noncompliance with standards. the result shows no statistically significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) in the respondents' views. this implies that respondents hold the same opinion on all the measured variables' effects on non-compliance with national standards in building project delivery. 5. conclusion the incessant cases of building collapse with its attendant devastating impacts, which have generated a lot of concerns, have been attributed to non-compliance with standards in the construction of buildings' structural components. concrete members being major structural parts of buildings, therefore, necessitated the need to evaluate compliance with concreting materials to standards. this study evaluated the factors that influence compliance with standards of materials used for producing concrete elements. the study found that construction site-based and procurement factors influence concreting materials' compliance with standards in the study area. the site-based top factors are production quality control, non-adherence to the specified concrete mix, local authorities' supervision, low cement grade, and use of uncertified construction professionals for supervision. others are water/cement ratio, cement grade, aggregates grading, grade 60 reinforcement for concreting, and grade 40 reinforcement bars. low compliance with admixtures and cement types standards was found. the procurement-based factors are current procurement policies, construction methodology, professionalism, and inefficiency of the regulatory framework. procurement factors influencing the extent of compliance of concreting materials to national standards enabled were compressed using the factor analysis technique. six components were extracted; technical, regulation, procurement, capacity, performance, and skill component-factor, which relate to contractors, regulatory bodies, and construction professionals. finally, the effects of non-compliance with national standards found and ranked are reworked, the extra cost of rework, project delivery delay, remarkable building defects, and damage to the environment. the study provided implications for quality building production through improved compliance of concreting materials to national standards. therefore, the study recommends that efficient regulatory policies and enforcement mechanisms be implemented to ensure compliance with national standards for concrete elements. these can be achieved and sustained through frequent training, sensitisation and instilling ethical standards among professionals by professional institutions such as the nigerian society of engineers (nse), nigerian institute of building (niob), nigerian institute of architects (nia) and nigerian institute of quantity surveyors (niqs). opawole et al. / journal of construction business and management (2022) 5(2). 1-19 16 references adafin, j. k., ayodele, e. o. and daramola, o., 2011. an assessment of factors affecting material stock control practice on selected construction sites in nigeria. continental journal environmental design and management, 1(1): 22 – 31. adenike, s.o., 2006. memorandum on the frequent collapse of buildings by ogun state housing corporation. public hearing on frequent collapse of buildings by house of representatives committee on housing and urban development, 6th 7th march. adewole, k.k., ajagbe, w.o. and arasi, i.a., 2015. determination of appropriate mix ratios for concrete grades using nigerian portlandlimestone grades 32.5 and 42.5, leonardo electronic journal of practices and technology, 26: 79 – 88. adewole, k.k., oladejo, j.o. and ajagbe, w.o., 2014. incessant collapse of buildings in nigeria: the possible role of the use of inappropriate cement grade/strength class, international journal of civil and environmental engineering, 8(7): 832837. adewole, k.k., olutoge, f.a., and habib, h., 2014. effect of nigerian portland-limestone cement grades on concrete compressive strength, international journal of civil and environmental engineering, 8(11): 1199-1202. aibinu, a. a., and odeyinka, h. a., 2006. construction delays and their causative factors in nigeria, journal of construction engineering and management, 132(7): 667-677. akinyemi, a. p., dare, g. m., anthony, a. i. and dabara, d. i., 2016. building collapse in nigeria: issues and challenges, conference of the international journal of arts and sciences, 9(1): 99-108. al-ghamdi, m. a., 2020. an assessment of quality compliance using concrete test mechanism: a case study with a construction company in saudi arabia. journal of global scientific research (issn: 2523-9376) 3: 429-433. ameh, o. j., and osegbo, e. e., 2011. study of relationship between time overrun and productivity on construction sites. international journal of construction supply chain management 1(1): 5667. angelino, m., 2019. developing better design standards for the construction industry. available at: https://bit.ly/3brbsxb (accessed on february 20, 2022). anigbogu, n. a. and anunike, e. b., 2014. standard of materials specifications, their implementation and enforcement on building construction projects in nigeria. atbu journal of environmental technology 7(1): 33-44. annabi, c. a, husein, u, hassan, f and nasir, n., 2017. sharia compliance in the construction industry: is this something to build upon?, journal of emerging economies and islamic research, 5(1): 1-16. anthony, o. a., 2012. examination of the determinants of housing values in urban ghana and implications for policymakers. journal of african real estate research, 2(1): 58-85. arayela o. and adam j. j., 2001. building disasters and failures in nigeria; 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received in revised form 8 june 2018 and 13 august 2018; accepted 31 january 2019. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.2.568 abstract organisational effectiveness (oe) theory provides a veritable framework for examining organisational performance. this theory has, however, made a very little inroad into construction management literature, and there are limited discussions on the domains within which construction firms can measure their oe. besides this, the extent to which corporate oe determines a contractor's project performance is not fully understood, primarily, in the small and medium-sized enterprise (sme) contractor context. based on data from 53 projects in higher institutions in nigeria, this study evaluated the measures of corporate oe of sme contractors and examined the contributions of the corporate oe of the firms to their project performance. by factor analysis, it was discovered that the sme contractors' corporate oe can be measured using corporate advantage, firm experience, firm certification and firm owner background. using canonical correlation, a significant relationship was found between the oe of the firms and the measures of project performance. the analysis further revealed that project cost and quality performances are bettered by increases in firm certification and experience, although time performance tends to worsen as a result. in addition to identifying the domains for measuring an sme contractor's oe, this study shows that better firm experience does not necessarily improve a contractors' project time performance. construction stakeholders and the public should beware of firms that only boast of an excellent corporate advantage and ownership by prominent persons in the society, but without adequate experience and certification. keywords: corporate advantage, firm experience, project performance 1. introduction organisational effectiveness (oe) is a critical concept in organisational theory (upadhaya, munir, & blount, 2014). as the ultimate criterion variable in empirical organisational studies, oe is generally accepted to be a potent theoretical tool for evaluating firm processes, structures and outcomes (martins & coetzee, 2009; upadhaya et al., 2014). the sparse use of oe theory in assessing construction firms' project performance in construction management literature partly motivated this study (e.g. kiziltas, dikmen, & birgonul, 2003; love & skitmore, 1996). construction firms are critical to the attainment of economic development by any nation, being the constructors of the infrastructure required to drive growth in other sectors of an economy. this genre of firms are often chided for being slow in the execution of projects (aibinu & jagboro, 2002), unethical (alutu, 2007), having poor safety performance (ng, cheng & 1 corresponding author. email address: chukwuemeka.ogbu@uniben.edu skitmore, 2005), lagging in innovation (winch, 1998; dainty et al. 2017) and threatened by high employee turnover rates (loosemore, dainty & lingard, 2003). a robust assessment of the effectiveness of construction industry firms that is grounded in oe theory will potentially point out the organisational traits responsible for the identified issues. this study was conceived to contribute in this regard. also, it is firmly established that the problem of low oe tend to be more prevalent in terms of spread and intensity among small and medium-sized enterprise (sme) construction firms (dainty, et al. 2017; acar et al. 2005; nelson et al. 2007). clough, sears and sears (2000) and enshassi, al-hallaq, and mohamed (2006) asserted that construction contracting businesses have the secondhighest failure rate of any business, exceeded only by restaurants. in developing countries, the organisational deficiencies of sme contractors are often more pronounced due to the business environment of these university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.2.568 2 c p ogbu and n. olatunde. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 nations (ofori 2000; kheni, gibb & dainty, 2010; ogbu, 2018). frequently, the firms are owner-managed; they show a preference for poorly trained labour (dainty et al. 2017) and have low appurtenances of formality. construction smes in developing countries are comparatively poorly studied (kulemeka, kululanga and morton, 2015). conceptually, the organisational deficiencies of sme contractors have implications for their levels of project performance. it is easily noticeable that irrespective of those deficiencies, most studies evaluating project performance in developing countries hardly consider the effectiveness of the contractor's organisation as a critical contributory factor (for instance ameh, soyingbe & odusami, 2010; kulemeka et al. 2015; odediran & windapo, 2014). this is unlike firms in developed countries for which brush, bromiley, and hendrickx (1999) presented broad arguments for and against the explanatory relevance of corporate efficiency variables to business segment performance. it is intended to narrow this research gap in the context of developing countries in this study. smes in developing economies are strategic to the development of the construction sector. they foster the spread of construction activities and the development of a country's construction industry (ofori, 1991; abor & quartey, 2010). construction smes are a good source of employment due to the ease with which they can be established, and their labour-intensive nature (cook & nixson, 2000). usually, the definition of smes differs in different jurisdictions (dainty et al. 2017). based on the headcount of employees of the firms, european commission (2003) divided firm sizes into the ranges of <10 (micro), <50 (small) and <250 (medium). in a ghanabased study, kheni et al. (2010) conceived smes as ≥30 ≤199 employees (medium), ≥10≤29 employees (small) and ≤9 employees (micro) firms. it may aid future studies to define smes differently for firms in different industries. for instance, dainty et al. (2017) noted that the european commission's (2003) definition renders almost all construction firms micro and small firms. for nigeria, bank of the industry (2018) categorised smes as ≤10 employees (micro), >11≤50 employees (small) and >50≤ 200 employees (medium), which is not too different from the classification of the european commission (2003). employees in a typical indigenous construction firm in nigeria hardly exceed 200 persons. previous studies classified indigenous construction firms in nigeria as smes as a result (ogbu, 2011; idoro, 2012). nigerian indigenous smes are given a preference in the award of public sector contracts (the federal republic of nigeria, 2007). yet, they are also known to have poor project outcomes in terms of quality, cost and speed, and to lack the capacity to handle complex projects (ofori, 1991; idoro, 2010; ibrahim, githae & stephen, 2014). most studies (hwang et al. 2009; song, mohamed, and abourizk, 2009) investigating the project performance of construction firms focused on predicting only one variable at a time. this ignores the reality that these variables alter simultaneously and relatedly, rather than independently, and variations in one of the variables affect the others. for instance, when cost performance changes, it is likely to affect quality and time performances. in a united kingdom-based study, alzahrani and emsley's (2013) modelled the probability of construction professionals' agreement that contractor attributes affect project success using ordinal logistic regression. a research gap exists to model the relationship between contractors' oe and project performance (measured at interval and ratio scales) using canonical correlation. such an analysis will retain the relatedness among the performance measures (quality, time and cost), and offer insights into their behaviour under the influence of a construction sme’s corporate level oe (based on the firms' owners' and the firms' characteristics). this result will be beneficial to construction clients in selecting contractors (khosrowshahi, 1999), and to the contractors themselves in improving on their firm effectiveness. this research, therefore, evaluates the measures of corporate oe of sme contractors, and determines the contribution of the latter on the project performance of sme contractors. 2. organisational effectiveness oe has been defined in different ways in literature. georgopoulos and tannenbaum (1957:2) explained that oe indicates how well an organisation is doing. the study defined oe as, "the extent to which an organisation as a social system, given certain resources and means, fulfils its objectives without incapacitating its means and resources and without placing undue strain upon its members." this view of oe emphasises goal achievement and aligns with etzioni's (1964) assertion that oe is the degree of goal realisation. however, it also highlights the state of the organisation's "means" (processes) and "resources" at the time of goal realisation. argyris (1964: 123) expressed oe as a condition where the firm increases its outputs with constant or decreasing inputs or has a continuous output with decreasing inputs. holbeche (2012) did not dispute these definitions but suggested that the focus should not only be on the short-term results, but also on how the result is gotten through people. two distinctive perspectives to oe are revealed by the preceding definitions – the input perspective and the output perspective. these two perspectives shall be explored in this study. yukl (2008) lumped these perspectives together by describing oe as the extent to which an organisation can survive, perform its mission, and maintain favourable earnings, financial resources, and asset value. the input side of oe comprises the firm's internal composition, resources and socio-economic system (corporate oe), while the output side consists of the results obtained from the deployment of those resources in the socio-economic context of the firm. in the end, a firm's bargaining position in a given environment is an expression of the efficiency of the firm's corporate oe (yuchtman & seashore, 1967). kiziltas et al. (2003) noted that in the construction industry, the activities taking place in the firm at the corporation level usually is responsible for the value created at the site level. the effectiveness of a construction firm can be judged from three perspectives, namely: 1) efficiency and adequacy of internal processes relative to the competition, 2) firm performance, 3) project performance. cameron (1980) christened these processes as the "system resource, internal process and organisation approaches", "goal c p ogbu and n. olatunde / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 3 oriented approach" and "strategic constituency approach" respectively. using the system resource, internal process and organisation approach, for instance, one can carry out a study to investigate the adoption of best practices within a construction firm. such a study will typically use multiple criteria to examine the efficiency of issues like leadership within the firm, human resource management, organisational culture and climate, and so on. studies focusing on firm performance (goal-oriented approach) will probably look at annual turnover, a number of employees, profit to asset ratio, profit before tax, employee turnover, among others (darwisha, singh & mohamed, 2013). these performance indicators do not reflect the firm's performance in any individual project but measure the aggregate outcome of the firm's business activities in a given period. contrastingly, project performance measures relate to the outcome of individual projects handled by the firm from the client's (strategic constituency's) perspective. common variables in this type of assessment include time, quality and cost. this study is interested in how corporate level resources relate to the project performance of sme contractors. kiziltas et al. (2003) used a plethora of variables classified as an organisation and its subsystems, business environment, macro environment and general characteristics in their assessment of the oe of turkish construction firms. contrastingly, it is argued here that the external environment influences a firm's project performance by affecting the firm at the corporate level given that entrepreneurs will usually select firm resources based on socio-economic constraints (buyinza and bbaale, 2013) (see figure 1). socio-economic context is a determinant of the characteristics of persons that can own firms and the characteristics of the firms themselves. in some climes, for example, women may not own construction firms due to their social status. likewise, a certain level of industry work experience or educational qualification is required of persons seeking to register as contractors. other choices in terms of a firm's internal resources will also be detected by the particular requirements of the industry in which the firm intends to operate. thus, the impact of external factors on the project performance of firms is moderated by the firm's internal resources and corporate resilience. this research focuses on how the site level performance of the firms (oe measured from the client's perspective) is affected by the corporate oe of the sme contractors (measured from the contractor's perspective). figure 1 conceptual framework of the study 3. measures of sme contractors’ organisational effectiveness disagreements existed earlier in oe literature on the best domain of an organisation to focus oe assessment, (cameron, 1986; love and skitmore, 1996), but this should no longer be the case. organisations exist for certain purposes and are intended to affect and be affected by some stakeholders or constituencies. this heterogeneity in terms of "objects, subjects and outcomes" creates asymmetry in the applications of the oe theory for the assessment of firms in different industries (cameron, 1980). cameron and whetten (1983) and cameron (1986) posed seven questions to help evaluators to delimit their variables when assessing a firm's oe. the questions and their answers relative to this study have been stated in table 1. table 1: critical questions to answer before undertaking oe assessment s/n question answers 1 from whose perspective is effectiveness being assessed? from the client’s perspective 2. on what domain of activity is the assessment focused? firm internal (corporate level) resources and processes, and project performance 3. what level of analysis is being used? firm and individual project levels 4. what is the purpose for assessing effectiveness? determination of influence of firm corporate oe on project outcome 5. what time frame is being employed? short term 6. what type of data are being used for assessments? organisational and project data –measured at categorical and internal scale 7 what is the referent against which effectiveness is judged? project performance (client’s perspective) source: adapted from cameron (1986) yuchtman and seashore (1967) suggested that the assessment of oe must be in terms not of any single criterion but an open-ended multidimensional set of criteria. kiziltas et al. (2003) followed this suggestion but focused on medium-to-big sized contractors, some of who operated in international markets, thus differentiating it from the context of this study. sexton, barrett and aouad (2006) noted that small and large construction companies output cost time quality social context firm characteristics 1. firm 2. firm owner economic context environment corporate level site level 4 c p ogbu and n. olatunde. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 are different species that live in different business habitats. an issue that usually constrains the study of developing country construction smes is the dearth of quality data for such an undertaking (cook & nixson, 2000). undeniably, the problem posed by this challenge is outweighed by the need to understand how the internal workings of firms influence their project performance and guide future research investigations and policy decisions. the choice of variables included in this study was dictated by prior expectations based on theory, measurability, and previous empirical studies (lopez-garcia and puente, 2006). a firm's corporate oe is regarded as decipherable from 1) the firm owner's characteristics (madhoushi & ghaedi, 2013) and 2) the firm's characteristics (mohd, 2005; dean, bülent & christopher, 2000) (see table 2). first, in developing countries' construction smes, firm owners are hardly distinguishable from the firms themselves, and majority of the workers may be the family members of the owner (kheni et al., 2010). this perspective is missing in some studies like tam (1992). clients tend to perceive sme contractors from the image of their owners, and firm owners' ethnicity and other qualities are sometimes considered necessary during tendering (see madhoushi and ghaedi, 2013; le et al. 2014). firm owners bear the firm's risks, and so are often constrained to innovate their firms in response to the dynamic market conditions (barrett & sexton, 2006). there is a dearth of literature evidence of the relationship between firm owner characteristics and construction project outcome. as a result of this, firm owner characteristics obtained from previous studies were used in this study as proxies for corporate oe. legally, the firms are different from their owners. hence firm characteristics were also used as proxies of oe. measures of firm characteristics are the attributes of the firms (for example firm age and size), which are considered important determinants of organisational performance in the general management literature (cressy, 1996; geroski, mata & portugal, 2003). table 2 shows the firm and firm-owner characteristics used to proxy oe. since oe is context-dependent, the choice of measures of corporate oe was extended to those that specifically relate with sme contractors. for example, the level to which a firm is categorised by the bureau of public procurement (bpp) in nigeria should correlate with the firm's performance at the site level. the bpp's categorisation and registration of companies in the construction industry are obtained by weighing the firms' manpower, equipment and financial capacities. the categories of registration range from a to e in descending order of capacity, and it is expected that firms in the higher categories will perform better at the site level (bpp, 2018) given their levels of resources. besides this, nigerian sme contractors are statutorily expected to be registered and to pay subscriptions to institutions like the national pension commission (npc) and the industrial training fund (itf). although registration with these bodies is not directly linked to the firms' ability to deliver projects at the site levels, they, nevertheless, matter in their corporate oe. not registering with these bodies will severely limit a firm's ability to win jobs and, consequently, experience, because such firms are excluded from projects in which the federal government of nigeria has a ≥30% stake. likewise, such firms will hardly attract the highly experienced construction personnel needed for performance at the site level. firm owner characteristics such as the age of the owner of a firm affect the flow of construction activities on site, which will ultimately impact on project performance. older persons tend to be slower and more risk-averse, so their behaviour may retard the speed of construction on site. additionally, an sme contractor owned by an experienced manager who owns other businesses will have an edge over firms owned by individuals without similar ownership. sme contractor owners sometimes also own blocks, kerbs or paint making companies. managers of sme contractors who own such other businesses will leverage those businesses to support the site-level performance of their construction companies when a need arises. ljubojevic, ljubojevic and maksimovic (2013) noted that such capabilities could enable the firm to produce standard goods at a lower cost or produce higher-quality goods at the same standard cost. in another instance, projects being executed by firms owned by women will suffer hitches because of the sociocultural status of women. it will be difficult, for example, for a woman to control the men-dominated construction artisans to influence project performance significantly. overall, a firm's "corporate advantage", that is, how its owner combines hard-to-imitate resources across different businesses to create an integrated whole will influence its performance at the project level (collis & montgomery, 1998; rozemeijer, 2000). firms will always differ in terms of their possession of the determinants of corporate oe discussed above, which will ultimately relate to their abilities to perform on site. each firm's corporate advantage is unique and difficult to copy by its competitors (chen, lai & wen, 2006). it is hypothesized that the sme contractor variables in table 2 will have a significant relationship with the firm performance variables presented in table 4. 4. project performance there are various project performance indices (de wit, 1988; sawacha, naoum, & fong, 1999; bassioni, price, & hassan, 2004; takim & akintoye, 2002). drawing from previous studies, cheng, li and love (2000) listed the measures shown in table 3 as indicators of project performance. love and holt (2000) noted that performance measures should focus on all company stakeholders' interests, not necessarily financial ones. cho, hong and hyun (2009) explained project performance variables in terms of being either qualitative or quantitative. the qualitative performance indices measure the quality using turnover quality or system quality, while the quantitative performance indices evaluate project cost and time. this latter approach was adopted in this study (see table 4). variables for the measurement of project performance in this study were project cost, quality and time obtained from the clients as indicated in table 1. stare (2011) pointed out that these performance expectations are not achieved in most construction projects. juxtaposing the contractorprovided oe of the firm (table 2) against the client's data on the contractor's performance (table 4) tells how the c p ogbu and n. olatunde / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 5 firm's corporate oe has resulted in site-level performance. given the dissatisfaction with the sole use of financial measures in performance measurement (mbugua et al. 1999), a mix of financial and non-financial measures was used in this case. table 4 shows the three project performance criteria used in this study, how they were measured and the benefits of their use. table 2: proxies of construction sme organisational effectiveness characteristic code measurement sources firm owner age of owner x1 actual age at last birthday cressy (1996) education x2 high = 2(for m.sc holders and above), intermediate = 1 (for hnd/b.sc holders), otherwise, 0 egesa (2010) professional qualification x3 niqs=1, nia=2, niob=3, nse=4, none=0 bpp (2018). construction industry work experience x4 number of years of work in the construction industry coleman, cotei and farhat (2013); madhoushi and ghaedi (2013 gender x5 male = 1 otherwise, 0 kalleber and leicht (1991) previous selfemployment x6 yes = 1, no = 0 frankish et al. (2007); knut et al. (2007) ethnicity of owner x7 "1" if the owner of firm is from the edo state, "0" otherwise nafziger and terrel (1996) ownership of other business(es) x8 yes = 1, no = 0 kelleber and leicht (1991) ceo duality x9 if the owner of the firm is also the ceo =1, otherwise = 0 yang and zhao (2014); baselga-pascual et al. (2014) firm firm age x10 actual age of business in years cressy, (1996), geroski et al. (2003) firm size x11 natural logarithm of a firm's permanent staff in 2014 cefis and marsili (2004) technology use x12 amount spent on ict per month egesa (2010) firm location x13 dummy variable:1 = if firm is located in the state capital, otherwise, 0; farinha (2005) firm experience x14 score based on types of projects in which the firm have participated shaver et al. (1997) dimov and de holan’s (2010) personnel expertise x15 number of personnel that are fully registered with the professional body number of registrations x16 number of organisations with which the firm is registered including: federal inland revenue service, pension commission, industrial training fund, bureau of public procurement, corporate affairs commission, private client bodies and public sector procuring entities, and others babajide (2012) group membership x17 1 if the company is a member of a large group of companies, otherwise 0 guariglia and bridges (2008) founding condition/initial size x18 number of permanent staff at the start of the company geroski et al. (2003); cook et al. (2012) organisational structure x19 vertical organisational structure = 1, horizontal organisational structure=0 borghesi et al. (2007) level of firm registration x20 class: a=5, b=4, c=3, d=2, e=1, none=0 bpp (2018). source: various authors niqs=nigerian institute of quantity surveyors, nia=nigerian institute of architects, niob=nigerian institute of building, nse=nigerian society of engineers, hnd=higher national diploma, ceo=chief executive officer, ict=information and communication technology 6 c p ogbu and n. olatunde. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 table 3 project performance measures and their benefits s/n criterion measure measuring unit benefit 1. cost-effectiveness cost variation actual cost/budgeted cost improve cost savings for client 2. quality rejection of work client satisfaction quality of work % sample rejections number of claims by client number of claims by contractors improve client confidence increase client satisfaction increase construction durability 3. schedule schedule variation actual duration/planned duration reduce additional expenses 4. scope of work change in scope of work change orders/budgeted cost reduce additional expenses 5. profit profit variation actual profit/projected profit increase income 6. construction process safety re-work number of accidents?100/total number of workers rework mh/total mh develop safety practice to manage risks reduce wasted work others litigation tender efficiency expense of litigation success rates reduce cost generate income source: cheng, li and love (2000) table 4: project performance (oe) variables uses in the study s/n criterion measure measuring unit benefit 1. cost effectiveness cost variation final account value/initial contract sum improve cost savings for client 2. quality quality of work number of re-works increased client satisfaction and project usefulness 3. time schedule variation planned duration/actual duration early project use 5. methodology this study focused on contractors and projects in public tertiary institutions in edo state nigeria from which the required data could be obtained. bpp (2015) showed that most complaints on construction procurement emanate from projects in the ministry of education. primarily, this study sought to relate measures of a construction firm's oe to its performance at the project site level. both oe of the firms and their project performances exist independently of the social conceptions of them. in consequence, an objectivist ontological stance was adopted for this study (grix, 2002; panas & pantouvakis, 2010), and only quantitative data were gathered for analyses to address the objectives of the study. the population of the study consisted of contractors and clients/consultants that participated in construction projects in the tertiary institutions. the contractors were requested to provide factual data on their firms, and the clients/consultants were requested to supply accurate data on project outcomes. it was, however, not possible to get already prepared sample frames containing the names of the projects, their consultants and contractors from the institutions covered by the study. this type of challenge is known to exist in the construction industry of most developing countries as a result of lapses in recordkeeping (cook & nixson, 2000). consequently, the sample frame was formed from the data obtained on an ad hoc basis from the institutions' physical planning and estates divisions. in all, 76 projects were identified for which the names and verifiable contacts of the consultants and contractors could be found. the projects that met the criteria happened to be those completed between 2010 and 2017. the participants in the 76 projects formed the population of the study. thus, an interpretivist epistemology was adopted in gathering the study's data. this aligns with otokiti (2005), dainty (2008) and patton (1990) who posited that the design of a study depends on its context, and that research is an art of the possible. the survey targeted all the firms involved. the questionnaire mainly sought the sme construction firms' oe measures shown in table 2, while the consultants/clients for the projects were requested to fill out tables containing the project performance criteria using the measuring units stated in table 4. in the process of data collection, it was discovered that some construction firms had carried out more than one project in the study area. during the analysis, the firm owner and firm characteristics were repeated for the number of projects in which they participated. this made the criteria and explanatory variables to have the same number of cases, even though the number of projects covered was higher than the number of contractors. 6. data analysis 6.1 factor analysis factor analysis reduces a set of variables into a fewer number of non-correlated factors that can represent the original variables (fellows & liu, 1997; iyer & jha, 2005). before conducting the canonical correlation, the twenty oe variables were reduced to a more parsimonious set of variables using factor analysis. two things were achieved with the process: first, the latent factors accounting for most of the variance in the data set were identified and named, and secondly, the factors were saved for use in the canonical correlation. c p ogbu and n. olatunde / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 7 although costello and osborne (2005) noted that the ratio of the number of cases to the number of variables for an excellent factor analysis should be large (≥5:1), noticeably, authors of construction management studies have tended to ignore this rule (hardcastle, et al. 2005; fox & skitmore, 2007; zhao et al. 2014). plausibly, this is as a result of the low return of questionnaires in construction management studies. the factor analysis in this study was based on a case to variables ratio of 2.65:1. the data were tested for factorability using the kaiser–meyer–olkin (kmo) measure of sampling adequacy and bartlett's test of sampling sphericity. for good factor analysis, the kmo test should give ≥0.6, while barlett's test of sphericity should be significant at α=0.05 (p ˂ 0.05) (fellows & liu, 1997; field 2005). the factor analysis was conducted by principal component method, with varimax rotation using the statistical package for social sciences (spss) version 22. yong and pearce (2013) and costello and osborne (2005) opined that the number of factors could be determined based on a threshold eigenvalue of 1, and that a structure loading of ≥0.3 can be considered strong enough for interpretation. however, following leung et al. (2005), only variables with loadings of ≥0.50 were regarded as having loaded highly under each factor in this study. this also goes to compensate for the low cases-to-variables ratio of the study. 6.2 canonical correlation canonical correlation was used to analyse the relationship between oe of the sme contractors and their project performance. canonical correlation analysis aims to find the best linear combination between two multivariate datasets that maximises the correlation coefficient between them (malacarne, 2014). it extends bivariate correlations by allowing for two or more dependent variables (on the left-hand side) to be related with two or more independent variables (on the right-hand side). montabon, sroufe, and narasimhan (2007) used this technique in relating the environmental management practices of firms to their performance. particularly, canonical correlation closely mimics the real-life situation where several criterion variables are being influenced by several independent variables simultaneously (shafto, degani & kirlik, 1997). it is important to model project performance criteria simultaneously since the achievement of one criterion could affect the success of the others. for instance, when the cost is reduced, quality may be compromised, or schedule growth may occur. canonical correlation tests the hypothesis that the two sets of data – the oe of the firms and their project performance are independent and shows the contribution of each variable to the relationship. canonical correlation is flexible, and does not impose the type of data restrictions associated with multiple regression analysis; it allows for the use of both metric and non-metric data in the correlation (hair, anderson, tatham and black, 1998). sherry and henson (2005) observed that wilk's ʎ is the most widely used test criteria for the model fit in the canonical correlation analysis. for a significant relationship to be inferred, the p-value of the wilk's ʎ test must be ˂0.05. the contribution of the variables was interpreted based on redundancies and canonical loadings. canonical structure (rs) and standardised coefficient loadings cut-off point of ≥0.30 was adopted (crum, lund & van auken, 1987; munro, 2005; mendes, da sylva & santos, 2012). hence, under each canonical root, variables not loading up to the cut-off point were considered insignificant. the squares of the canonical structure loadings (r2) were also computed, which captured the proportion of linear variance shared between an observed variable and its group's canonical variate (sherry & henson, 2005). redundancies of up to 0.25 were considered to be substantial, given previous studies (montabon et al. 2007; keramati, 2007), and the peculiarities of this research. rencher (2002) argued that standardised coefficients show the contribution of each variable in the presence of other variables. hence, the standardised coefficients of the variables were equally reported. the stability of the canonical correlation result was tested by omitting the explanatory variables one after another, and checking the changes in their loadings under each significant canonical root (hair et al. 1998; dattalo, 2014). 7. results out of the 76 pairs of the questionnaires sent out to the respondents, only 53 pairs of acceptably filled questionnaires were returned. table 5 shows the types of projects covered by the study and the procurement methods used. the number of projects using the design-bid-build approach was more in number (n=42), and most of the projects were new buildings (n=31). the projects covered the period 2010 to 2017, although this was not the yardstick used in the selection of projects for the study. majority of the respondents were civil engineers (n=14), 15 were project engineers, and most (n=21) have >10≤20years construction industry work experience (table 6). the profile of the respondents gave confidence that the respondents could offer reliable information for the study. table 7 shows the means and standard deviations of the performance variables studies. the cost-effectiveness, which was measured as the ratio of the final account value to the initial contractor sum had a mean of 1.4509 and a standard deviation of 2.56307 which means that on the average, the projects covered exceeded the initial budget by about 45%. likewise, on the average, about nine rework cases were reported per project, and planned-toactual duration ratio averaged 0.66. on testing the factorability of the data, the kmo measure of sampling adequacy and bartlett's test of sampling sphericity yielded acceptable values: .819 and x2=859.714 (df=190, p=0.000) respectively. four factors emerged, which cumulatively explain 71.540% of the variance in the data set (table 8. the four factors were determined from the eigenvalue of 1. the first factor is dominated by variables relating to an sme contractor's advantage over similar firms at the corporate level, such as ownership of other business, group membership, and organisational structure. for this reason, factor 1 was labelled "corporate advantage" factor. factor 2 was dominated by variables relating to experience such as firm age, firm experience, construction industry work experience of the owner, among others. factor 2 was, 8 c p ogbu and n. olatunde. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 therefore named the "firm experience factor". factor 3 was called the firm certification factor since the level of firm registration, and a number of records of firm loaded significantly under the factor. lastly, factor 4 under which ethnicity of owner loaded highly was christened "firm owner background" factor. given that some variables had factor loadings of <0.50, the factor analysis was repeated to test the stability of the loadings under the respective factors. this has been reported in table 9. the kmo measure of sampling adequacy and bartlett's test of sampling sphericity again yielded acceptable values: .774 and x2= 560.481 (df=105, p=0.000) respectively. similarly, four factors emerged, which cumulatively explain 73.209% of the variance in the data set. as shown in table 9, the result of this analysis substantially validates the result in the first factor analysis already reported on, with the exception that the founding condition/initial size (x18) which initially loaded positively under the first factor (corporate advantage) now loads negatively under the second factor (firm experience). hence, while it is accepted that the variable is relevant in the assessment of the oe of the sme contractors, the exact domain of its contribution could not be ascertained in this study table 5: type of projects covered by the study s/n project type number 1. new civil infrastructure 10 2. new building 31 3. maintenance/repairs of buildings or civil infrastructure 12 total 53 type of procurement 4. design-bid-build 42 5. design and build 11 total 53 table 6: respondent characteristics s/n respondent’s professions number 1. civil engineering 14 2. architecture 11 3. building 4 4. quantity surveying 13 5. mechanical/electrical engineering 6 6. none construction professions 5 total 53 title/position in the firm 1 project engineer 15 2 project/contract manager 12 3 chief executive officer 13 4 procurement engineer 3 5 cost manager/quantity surveyor 9 6. builder 1 total 53 construction industry work experience 1 ≤10 years 17 2 >10≤20years 21 3 >20years 15 total 53 number of years with the present firm 1 ≤5years 23 2 >5≤10years 14 3 >10≤20years 10 4. >20years 6 total 53 table 7: descriptive statistics of the criterion variables performance indices n mean std. deviation cost effectiveness 53 1.4509 2.56307 quality 53 8.9838 11.58406 time 53 0.6646 0.68344 valid n (listwise) 53 table 8: factor analysis results code variable component 1: corporate advantage 2:firm experience 3:firm certification 4: firm owner background x6 previous self-employment 0.891 x8 ownership of other business(es) 0.861 x17 group membership 0.849 x11 firm size 0.842 x19 organisational structure 0.834 x1 age of owner -0.827 x13 firm location -0.734 x2 owner's level of education -0.701 x15 personnel expertise -0.64 -0.538 x18 founding condition/initial size 0.557 x10 firm age 0.934 x14 firm experience 0.898 x9 ceo duality -0.869 x4 construction industry work experience 0.841 x12 technology use 0.64 c p ogbu and n. olatunde / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 9 x3 professional qualification of owner 0.53 x20 level of firm registration 0.737 x16 number of registrations 0.505 x7 ethnicity of owner 0.825 x5 gender % of variance 33.996 22.928 8.053% 6.563 % cumulative 33.996 56.925 64.977 71.540 eigenvalue 7.744 3.753 1.480 1.231 table 9: second factor analysis results (after omission of some variables) code variable component 1: corporate advantage 2: firm experience 3: firm certification 4: firm owner background x6 previous self-employment 0.891 x11 firm size 0.861 x8 ownership of other business(es) 0.849 x17 group membership 0.842 x19 organisational structure 0.834 x14 firm experience -0.827 x10 firm age -0.734 x4 construction industry work experience -0.701 x12 technology use -0.64 -0.538 x18 founding condition/initial size 0.557 x3 professional qualification of owner 0.934 x20 level of firm registration 0.898 x16 number of registrations -0.869 x7 ethnicity of owner 0.841 x5 gender 0.64 % of variance 33.996 22.928 8.053% 6.563 % cumulative 33.996 56.925 64.977 71.540 eigenvalue 7.744 3.753 1.480 1.231 using the spss, the factors from the first factor analysis were saved for use in the canonical correlation. a significant relationship was found to exist between the two sets of variables [wilk's ʎ=.560, f (12, 121.996) = 2.494, p=0.006], and two statistically significant canonical roots were derived from the analysis. since wilk's ʎ indicates the unexplained variance within the data set, 1ʎ gives the strength of the relationship in the model in r2 metric. thus, the oe of the sme contractors accounted for 44% of the performance of the projects studied. impliedly, 56% of the variance is accounted for by other factors. the results show that wilk's ʎ=.560, f (12, 121.996) = 2.494, p=0.006 for the first canonical root, and ʎ=.750, f (6, 94) = 2.426, p=0.036 for the second canonical root. the third canonical root was discarded for being insignificant (ʎ=.993, f (2, 48) = 0.175, p=0.840). the canonical structure loadings (r), standardized coefficients (coeff) and commonalities of the significant canonical roots have been reported in table 10. canonical root 1 shows a link between project quality (r=0.76, coeff=0.87) and time (r=-0.52, coeff=-0.66) performances, and corporate advantage (r=0.92, coeff=1.02) and firm certification (r=-0.37, coeff=-0.24). except for firm certification, these variables have both high canonical structure loading and standardised canonical coefficients which confirm their importance to the canonical variates to which they belong. the signs on the canonical loadings show that corporate advantage is inversely related to the measure of project time performance, but relates directly with project quality performance. firms with better corporate advantage tended to have more schedule growth and more rework. indicatively, firms with better structure have not shown superiority in terms of meeting project deadlines and avoiding rework. 10 c p ogbu and n. olatunde. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 table 10: canonical correlation result set 1 canonical loadings canonical root 1 canonical root 2 variable coeff r r2 coeff r r2 h2 organisation effectiveness corporate advantage 1.02 0.92 0.85 -0.01 0.35 0.12 0.97 firm experience -0.27 0.14 0.02 0.83 0.92 0.85 0.87 firm certification -0.24 -0.37 0.13 0.37 0.54 0.29 0.42 firm owner background 0.08 0.17 0.03 0.15 0.25 0.06 0.09 redundancies 0.26 0.33 rc2 between the canonical variates 25.40% 24.50% set 2 canonical loadings project performance cost effectiveness 0.02 -0.09 0.01 -0.61 0.48 0.23 0.24 quality 0.87 0.76 0.57 -0.51 0.52 0.27 0.84 time -0.66 -0.52 0.27 -0.65 0.69 0.48 0.75 redundancies 0.28 0.33 coeff=standardised canonical coefficient, r=canonical structure loading, h2=commonality, r2 = square of canonical structure loading in canonical root 1, the redundancies of the criterion and explanatory variables are respectively 0.28 and 0.26, indicating the combined contributions of the variables to their respective variates. impliedly, in r2 terms, 28% of the variance in the explanatory variate is explained by the criterion variate, while the explanatory variate explains 26% of the variation in the criterion variate. in canonical root 2, corporate advantage has a significant canonical structure loading (r=0.35), but an insignificant coefficient (coeff=-0.01). therefore, canonical root 2 mainly shows the nexus between firm experience (r=0.92, coeff=0.83) and firm certification (r=0.54, coeff=0.37) on the explanatory side, and costeffectiveness (r=-0.48, coeff=-0.61), quality (r=-0.52, coeff=-0.51), and time (r=-0.69, coeff=-0.65). a look at the r2 shows that firm experience is the major explanatory variable in canonical root 2. experienced and certificated firms here tend to have projects with time overruns. however, they perform better on cost and quality (both the ratio of the final account value to the initial contract sum and the number of re-works decrease as firm experience and certification increases). table 11 shows the results of the stability test of the independent variables. it shows that corporate advantage remained consistently significant when the other variables were removed in canonical root 1, whereas firm certification became insignificant (r=0.191) when the firm experience was removed. in canonical root 2, however, both firm experience and firm certification were consistently significant (r≥0.3) when the other explanatory variables were removed in turns. the results in table 11 support the interpretation of the data using the consistent variables as already done. table 11: stability test of removal of independent variables variables before omission after the omission of: corporate advantage firm experience firm certification firm owner background canonical root 1 corporate advantage 0.92 vir -0.985 -0.981 -0.824 firm experience 0.14 -0.921 vir -0.554 0.064 firm certification -0.37 -0.533 0.191 vir 0.474 firm owner background 0.17 -0.252 -0.237 -0.269 vir canonical root 2 corporate advantage 0.35 vir -0.082 0.147 0.560 firm experience 0.92 0.315 vir -0.819 0.941 firm certification 0.54 -0.834 -0.947 vir 0.443 firm owner background 0.25 0.320 -0.299 -0.146 vir vir=variable of interest in the row 8. discussion of findings overall, a significant relationship exists between the firm oe factors and the three project performance variables. for the type of firms of interest here, oe can be c p ogbu and n. olatunde / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 11 understood from ‘who the firm is' generally. oe centres on the internal resources, processes and organisation of the firm. the finding of this study that the oe of an sme contractor is related to its project performance supports findings in previous studies and justifies the prequalification of contractors by investigating their make-up as well as their efficiency as a firm (khosrowshahi, 1999). sawacha et al. (1999) identified organisational factors as among the group of factors affecting the project safety performance of projects. in this study, organisational factors, although differently measured, were found to be related to project quality, cost and time performance, which were not measured in sawacha et al. (1999). this study additionally offers insights on the summary of the oe variables that are related to project performance, namely, corporate advantage, firm experience and firm certification. this finding generally aligns with that of alzahrani and emsley's (2013) who found that firm resources, expertise, and organisation are among firm-level variables that affect project success at the site-level. for instance, the variable firm size loaded highly under corporate advantage in this study and loaded highly under organisation in alzahrani and emsley (2013). this study, however, adds firm certification to the organisational factors required for the project-level performance of construction smes. 8.1 corporate advantage of the firm and project performance the significant loadings of previous self-employment, firm size, ownership of other businesses and group membership support the argument that corporate advantage is a latent variable in the set of explanatory variables of the study. firms whose owners own other companies as well tend to be bigger and the owners tend to have previous self-employment. collis and montgomery (1998) viewed corporate advantage as centred around synergising resources across multiple businesses to optimise organizational performance. the study, however, referred to big corporations mostly outside of construction industry and developing country contexts. sme contractor owners who also own other businesses tend to form small "corporations" where the resources of the companies are synergistically pooled together. resultantly, such contractors become better positioned than their peers to perform at the site level following ljubojevic, ljubojevic and maksimovic's (2013) argument. thus, ordinarily, the effectiveness of the firm should increase as the corporate advantage gets better. this study, however, indicated a negative association between project time and quality performance and a construction sme's corporate advantage. brush, bromiley, and hendrickx (1999) found a sizable organizational effect on business segment performance, using data from the united states of america corporations. the companies used were not restricted to smes and the construction industry, and therefore, differ from the context of this study. in this case, firms with better corporate advantages had lower planned durationactual duration ratios due to reworks. the sme contractors failed to replicate their organisational strengths at site levels. the data for this study shows that corporate advantage, as measured in this study, does not guarantee better project outcomes in terms of early completion and less rework. 8.2 firm experience and project performance firms can only do what they know (dimov & de holan, 2010). firm experience, as noted by dimov and de holan (2010), is the sum of what the firm knows by itself and what it has learned from others. firm experience was the second factor identified through factor analysis and supported by variables such as firm experience and construction industry work experience of the company owner, among others. the explanatory variable "firm experience" was measured in this study based on the types of projects a firm has been involved in, while the "construction industry work experience" of the owner was measured in terms of years of construction industry work. both measures are in tandem with dimov and de holan's (2010) view that firm experience depends both on length of time in the industry as well as on the spread of experience within the industry. firm experience is vital in appraising the oe of an sme contractor since it aids the mitigation of risks (akintoye & macleod, 1997). the findings of this study suggest that while firm experience aids cost and quality performances, schedule overruns grow worse as the experiences of the firms tended to increase. time overruns have been a major problem for construction projects, which firm experience does not solve. as evidenced by the findings of this study, more experienced sme contractors make more claims for time than the relatively newer firms, which leads to schedule growths. 8.3 firm experience and project performance firm certification in this study refers to the level of a firm's categorisation in its registration with the bpp. the bpp's classification is based on a contractor's equipment, personnel and financial capacities, and determines the naira value of projects the federal government can award the firm. it also refers to the number of client organisations with which the firm is registered. organisations (both private and public) often require prior registration for contractors to be included in a shortlist of firms that can tender for projects within such organisations. besides this, contractors for federal government projects in nigeria are expected to contribute to or be registered with several national institutions such as the industrial training fund and the national pension commission (bpp, 2018). the ability of a contractor to be certified/registered by these institutions is a determinant of its oe because non-registration can negate the contractor's chances of success during prequalification to tender for projects. the firm certification was the third factor identified in the factor analysis and was supported by several registrations and level of firm registration. in canonical root 2, firm certification tended to be associated with time overruns, but lessened project cost and amount of rework. the stability test established that highly certificated sme contractors perform better on project cost and quality performances. 8.4 firm owner-background and project performance 12 c p ogbu and n. olatunde. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 1-16 smes are often owned by individuals whose personalities have overbearing influence on the oe of the firms. an sme contractor may be awarded contracts based solely on the personality of its owner. barrett and sexton (2006) pointed out that owners of sme construction firms bear the burden of making quick decisions and creating innovative activities to counter shifting client demands and market conditions. several studies found that firm owner qualities like firm age are tied to firm survival (cressy, 1996; madhoushi & ghaedi, 2013). despite this, this study shows no significant influence of firm owner background in terms of ethnicity of the owner on project performance for the studied sme contractors. it means that the ethnicity of a construction sme owner is irrelevant to the performance of a project, hence nepotism in contract awards (le et al. 2014) do not lead to better project performance. thus, considered entirely from the client's perspective, the firm owner background does not explain an sme contractor's performance on a project. 9. conclusion this study sought to evaluate the determinants of oe within sme construction firms, and to investigate the influence of these on the outcomes of projects executed by such firms. from the contractors' perspective, four firm domains were identified for investigating oe among the genre of firms covered by this study, namely: corporate advantage, firm experience, firm certification and firm owner background. these domains are the contractors' focus on rating their own oe. when viewed from the client's perspective, it was found that contractors who excelled in these domains still had schedule growths. findings from this study, however, show that firm certification and experience enhance project performance in terms of quality and cost since more certificated and experienced firms have fewer rework and lower final account value-to-initial contract sum ratio in their projects. regarding the influences of corporate advantage, firm certification and experience on project performance, clients should show preference to firms with better certification and experience than to firms that merely have corporate advantage irrespective of the firm owner's background. firms with better corporate advantage tend to re-do their work more often, and so last longer on projects with insignificant improvements on project cost performance. a firm's experience causes it to make fewer mistakes during construction and by so doing, make savings which favour the client. construction stakeholders, and indeed, the general public, should beware of sme contractors that only boast of good corporate advantage and ownership by prominent persons in the society, but without adequate certification and experience. based on the results of this study, a highly performing sme contractor cannot be known by the extent of its corporate advantage and firm owner background, but by the level of its certification and experience. public procuring entities engaging sme contractors should assess the firms based on firm experience and certification. the results of this study justify the requirements for registrations and certifications prior to tendering, and this should be 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received in revised form 23 january 2017; accepted 02 march 2017 abstract building maintenance projects have been characterized by poor quality delivery, which leads to client dissatisfaction. the maintenance contractor’s personnel evolve around the uncertainties that surround maintenance decisions, which make the success of a maintenance project dicey. hence, this study seeks to identify critical success factors that determine the performance outcome of building maintenance projects in lagos state, nigeria. a quantitative research approach was adopted for the study using a questionnaire survey for data collection. descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for the analysis of the data collected. the findings of the study indicate that the eighteen identified factors can be grouped under six critical success factors named team integration and knowledge transfer, project learning and maintenance methodology, stakeholders’ early project assessment, planning and control, information and communication management within project stakeholders, and quality and risk control. the effective management of these factors will improve building maintenance project’s outcomes in nigeria and adaptable for other similar developing countries. keywords: building maintenance; developing countries; maintenance contractors; project success factors. 1. introduction the importance of the buildings and its auxiliary facilities to human existence and their activities cannot be overemphasized. though a building structure should be built to last, its longevity still depends on the level of care channelled into it. effective maintenance is required to sustain the original purpose and intent of the building in terms of functions, aesthetics, health and safety, and so on. as the economy of a nation grows the need for maintenance functions increases (tan, shen, and langston, 2012). therefore, every growing economy must strengthen its maintenance output in the construction industry to meet the changing business environment. factors that affect the maintenance market, according to tan, shen, and langston (2012), are increasing number of ageing buildings, obsolescence and adaptive reuse, 1 corresponding author. tel: +61449823127. e-mail address: abisuga_olatunji@yahoo.com 2 e-mail address: yogungbemi@ymail.com 3 e-mail address: aaakinpelu@yahoo.com 4 e-mail address: oshodilekan2002@yahoo.com legislation, sustainability, and social responsibility. maintenance is defined as “a combination of any actions carried out to retain an item in, or restore it to an acceptable condition” (bsi 1984, 3811). however, maintenance, according to olanrewaju (2010 : 201) is “the processes and services to preserve, repair, protect and care for a building fabric and engineering services after completion, repair, refurbishment or replacement to current standards to enable it to serve its intended function throughout its entire lifespan without drastically upsetting its basic features and use”. from the definitions, it can be seen that maintenance is a vital component of an organisation’s existence in relation to its asset management. in the study of edmond, lam albert, and chan daniel (2010), they affirm that maintenance of existing building assets has been considered a top priority in most client university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:abisuga_olatunji@yahoo.com mailto:yogungbemi@ymail.com mailto:aaakinpelu@yahoo.com mailto:oshodilekan2002@yahoo.com 30 a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 organisations in their project planning. most organisations have realized the efficacy of maintenance functions in their day-to-day activities and in the continuity of their production line to avoid a shutdown. these maintenance functions, whether services, repair, replacement, or cleaning, is a project to an organisation. the characteristic of the maintenance project depends greatly on the nature of the work to be executed. this also determines the mode of execution of the project, whether through in-house or outsourced contracting. no matter the mode of execution of the project, a successful completion of the project is paramount. project success is seen as meeting goals and objectives as prescribed in the project plan, while a successful project means that the project has accomplished its technical performance, maintained its schedule, and remained within budgetary costs (frimpong, oluwoye, and crawford 2003). therefore, a project is considered successful if it meets the time criterion, monetary criterion, effectiveness criterion, and client satisfaction criterion set for it. unfortunately, building maintenance projects have been characterised by poor quality and delivery, which has led many times to client dissatisfaction. also, the maintenance contractor and personnel evolve around the uncertainty that surrounds maintenance decision-making platform, which makes the success of the maintenance projects dicey. according to mukelasi, zawawii, kamaruzzaman, ithnin, and zulkaranain (2012), the administration of maintenance management is not effective and efficient resulting in defective facilities and poor services. obviously, maintenance approach altitude has been more reactive rather than proactive in nature without the interest of customer satisfaction (mukelasi et al. 2012). this has resulted in the appalling conditions of buildings and auxiliary facilities, for example in nigeria (zubairu 2000; adebayo 1991; adenuga 2008; adenuga, olufowobi, and raheem 2010; okolie 2011). therefore, to improve and retain the state of conditions of infrastructural facilities, it is paramount to improve maintenance management administration. meaning that, the factors that can contribute to the success of building maintenance projects need to be identified. the identification of the constraints and the critical success factors (csfs) in business can enhance management strategy and performance (mukelasi et al. 2012). this will reduce the probability of failure during the execution of the project when all risks are well managed (mukelasi et al. 2012). therefore, maintenance project execution must be viewed and approach in an appropriate procedure to achieve success. the successful completion of maintenance projects will increase client satisfaction and organisational image of maintenance firms and the betterment of the built environment. buildings must be retained in a functional state to meet the needs of the occupants through an effective and efficient maintenance practice and execution. for this to be achievable in reality the critical success factors that can influence the improving of the maintenance workforce needs to be identified. therefore, this study seeks to identify the critical success factors (csfs) that determine the performance outcome of building maintenance projects in developing countries using lagos, nigeria as a case. the study is divided into five sections, the first section is the introductory part that highlights the purpose of the study; the second section is the review of literature where previous related studies to the subject were presented; follow by the research method section that show the approach of data collection and analysis; while the fourth section deals with the discussion of the findings in relation to the literature review and the final part is the conclusion section. 2. critical success factors (csfs) conceptual review identifying critical success factors at the early stage of a project is paramount to the successful completion of a construction project. this couples with the consideration that there are some factors that influence project performance within the project environments. critical success factors (csf) are employed to measure organizational excellence (mukelasi et al. 2012). according to mukelasi et al. (2012), csf is vital for building maintenance project because it can identify causes of project failure and also improve performance. hence, these certain major factors must be well planned to achieve a successful project delivery. project success factors has been a major research area among the academia in the field of project management. various contributors have established different factors that determine project success, such as belassi and tukel (1996); divalcar and subramanian (2009); edmond, lam albert, and chan daniel (2010); and straub (2011) (see table 1). in 1996, belassi and tukel proposed a framework for determining critical success/failure factors in a project. their findings reveal that critical factors have diverse ways of influencing the project outcome in different project environments. that means that the success factors for different projects may be diverse and unique in accordance to the projects’ characteristics. the results of the study of belassi and tukel (1996) show that the project managers’ managerial skills, team members’ commitment and technical background, project attributes, and environmental factors are as viable and can be as critical as the organisational factors’ in information technology and in manufacturing projects, managerial skills are the critical factors while environmental factors (economic and weather) mostly affect construction projects. edmond, lam albert, and chan daniel (2010) conducted an empirical study among maintenance contractors in the hong kong construction industry. they considered the time, cost, quality, functionality, safety, and environmental friendliness as the key performance indicators (kpis) for building maintenance projects. but belassi and tukel (1996) attest that when time is considered as a kpi, the project manager’s skills and communication between the team members becomes critical. this is reiterated by straub (2011); communication and empathy skills toward the client are necessary for all consultancy activities. basically, there exists a complex interaction between project variables which necessitate the need for further investigation of critical factors that determine project success in different project environments. a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 31 straub considers maintenance contractors as service innovators; the study looks at certain attributes that determines the success of a maintenance project in relation to the personality of the contractor. straub (2011) views that maintenance contractors must acquire more knowledge to ascertain the rate or level of deterioration of components and be able to give maintenance advice and cost implications. in addition, for a successful maintenance project, the ability to design, plan, and calculate maintenance scenarios, and performance measurement plans are vital (straub 2011). integrity, honesty, and coordination skills are also identified as necessary attributes (straub 2011). a study carried out by divalcar and subramanian (2009) identified nineteen project success factors that were reduced to three critical categories: role of project participants, planning; monitoring and feedback; and decision making, approval, and implementation. further, seventy-seven factors were identified and classified under seven groups as project management-related factors, procurement-related factors, client-related factors, and business-related factors in the work of saqib, faruoqui, and lodi (2008). the findings of their study show that the ten csf of a project were decision-making effectiveness, project manager’s experience, contractor’s cash flow, contractor experience, timely decision by an owner/owner’s representative, site management, supervision, planning effort, prior project management experience, and the client’s ability to make decisions out of the seventy-seven identified factors. also, saqib, faruoqui, and lodi (2008) added that the top five cfs groups that influence project success were contractorrelated factors, project manager-related factors, procurement-related factors, design team-related factors, and project management-related factors. bamber, sharp, and hides (1999) developed a conceptual framework for a successful implementation of total productive maintenance (tpm) with nine factors namely, the existing organisation, measures of performance, alignment to company mission, the involvement of people, an implementation plan, knowledge and beliefs, time allocation for implementation, management commitment, motivation of management and workforce. from another point of view, al-hammad and assaf (1996) considered the performance of maintenance contractors in saudi arabia from the perception of building owners and the maintenance contractors. according to the study, the building owners believed that factors that determine the successful performance of the maintenance contractors were proper planning and scheduling, safety precautions, technical competence, and workmanship while the contractors attested that proper planning and scheduling, safety precaution, subcontracting control, efficient administration, availability of equipment and facilities, and technical competence were the csf needed to achieve a successful project delivery. wahid and corner (2009) stated that the composition of top management and employees, the reward system, teamwork, continuous improvement, understanding of international standards organisation (iso), measurement of performance and communication are all critical success factors for iso 9000 maintenance in the studied organisation. also, in the study of mukelasi, zawawii, kamaruzzaman, ithnin, and zulkaranain (2012), the csfs for building maintenance management of local authority in malaysia were identified as leadership, culture, structure, roles and responsibilities, system infrastructure, and measurement. in their work, leadership relates to human capital, resources and relations which must consist of commitment, identification with the organisation, mutual trust, cooperation and future optimism. they further term culture as the nature of the maintenance work which entails the organizational practices, climate and norms, internal competence and integration, history and tools, conception and work demand. the organisational cultural elements culminate to organisation performance (mukelasi et al. 2012). also, the organisational structure is the division of responsibilities within the system as in top management and operational functions and physical inspection. according to mukelasi et al. (2012) work policy will enhance a successful maintenance work system. maintenance organisations must also utilize their system infrastructure which comprises resources, technology, management control, procedures and strategy to their advantage to achieve a positive project outcome (mukelasi et al. 2012). in addition, project outcome needs to be measured whether it meets users' expectations in terms of quality, speed, reliability, safety, function and comfort (mukelasi et al. 2012). ghanaee and pourezzat, (2013) examined the critical success factors for urban residential renovation projects from the perspective of experts and urban managers. the findings of the study show four csfs cluster of twelve factors as enabling factors prerequisites, requirements and facilitating factors. in 2014, tan, shen, langston, lu and yam studied the critical success factors for building maintenance business in hong kong. a total of eight csfs was identified, such as maintenance service, organisation management, certification, people, relationship, technology, marketing, innovation and sustainability, while the two most relative principal csfs are maintenance service and organisation, and project management (tan et al., 2014). their study also indicates client’s satisfaction, certification of company, reliability of service, quality of service, and company reputation as elemental factors that determine building maintenance business success. furthermore, tucker, turley, and holgate, (2014) investigate the critical success factors of an effective repairs and maintenance service for social housing in the uk. the five top ranking csfs found are stakeholder opinion, value for money, service standards, performance and continuous improvement. in support of these findings, njuangang, liyanage, and akintoye, (2015) identified eight critical success factors to key performance measures to control maintenance-associated hospital-acquired infections (hais) as maintenance resource availability, maintenance strategies, infection control practices, risk assessment, liaison and communication with ict, service level agreement, staff education, and customer satisfaction. njuangang, liyanage, and akintoye, (2015) in their study stated that close collaboration and communication between the team are vital csfs, and that customer satisfaction is an underdeveloped csf. 32 a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 table 1: summary of csfs conceptual review author(s) study focus critical project success factors al-hammad and assaf (1996) maintenance contractors providing proper planning and scheduling, providing safety precaution, subcontracting control, providing efficient administration, making required equipment and facilities available, ensuring technical competence, delivering material, and providing suggestions on cost cutting bamber, sharp and hides (1999) total productive maintenance the existing organization, measure of performance, alignment of company mission, the involvement of people, an implementation plan, knowledge and beliefs, time allocation for implementation, management commitment, motivation management, and workforce al-zahrani (2001) maintenance auditing organisation and human resources, material management, work planning and scheduling, work accomplishment, information technology and appraisal, workload identification, and performance measures hua, sher and pheng (2005) communication between client/maintenance contractors checking information with users, use of appropriate visualization techniques, sufficient human resources, timing of information, clients' feedback, working experience, clients' attitudes, straightforward work requests, and contractor's suggestion matching interests of clients ali et al. (2006) reactive maintenance knowledge sharing, quality of information saqib, faruoqi and lodi (2008) construction projects decision-making effectiveness, project manager’s experience, contractor’s cash flow, contractor experience, timely decision by an owner/owner’s representative, site management, supervision, planning effort, prior project management experience, and client’s ability to make decision divalcar and subramanian (2009) construction project (time monitoring) role of project participants, planning, monitoring and feedback, decision making, approval, and implementation edmond, lam albert and chan daniel (2010) key performance indicator in maintenance project time, cost, quality, functionality, safety, and environmental friendliness straub (2011) innovation in maintenance contracting knowledge and competencies in calculations of costs, design of maintenance scenarios and performance measurement plans, integrity and honesty, coordination skills, communication, and empathy skills though the findings of some of the reviewed literatures were similar, contrary opinions are expressed in this subject area due to the uniqueness of the project environment. this change in the success factors are the rapid changes currently experienced in the business environment, according to belassi and tukel (1996). this makes the need to investigate the issues of csfs in maintenance projects paramount in different domains (see table 1). therefore, a different project environment in a developing nation is considered in this study. the factors that determine the maintenance project’s success in lagos, nigeria, from the perception of the clients, maintenance contractors, and the consultants were viewed to contribute to the existing literature. 3. research method to achieve the purpose of the study, a review of literature on critical project success factors was conducted. this involved the identification of various factors that can contribute to a successful completion of a project. about eighty factors were identified from the literature in general. the identified factors were then reduced by an expert panel in the field of maintenance contracting, which included maintenance manager/officers, maintenance contractors, and academics with a research focus on maintenance activities, through a questionnaire survey. the panelists were mandated to identify those factors that are most critical to a maintenance project considering its unique nature. the factors were reduced to eighteen, which was considered appropriate for the study. a structured questionnaire was developed to facilitate data collection and to ensure consistency in the elements examined. the questions were designed as statements seeking a participant’s level of agreement to identify factors that determine the successful delivery of a maintenance project; the responses were based on a five-point likert scale where 1.00-1.50 is not critical; 1.51-2.50 is less critical; 2.51-3.50 is critical; 3.51-4.50 is very critical and 4.51-5.00 is extremely critical (see adewunmi, omirin and famuyiwa, 2011; olanrewaju, khamidi and idrus, 2010). a systematic stratified sampling method was employed to select contracting firms from a list of registered contractors and consultants in professional recognized bodies. the client organizations were selected using a purposive sampling technique. a questionnaire survey was conducted among representatives from seventy-five major contracting/consulting firms and client organizations involved directly in maintenance projects in a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 33 lagos, nigeria. sixty-three of the questionnaires were found valid for the study. the data collected was analysed using spss version 22.0. the descriptive statistic of the responses was studied. a ranking of the factors based on the mean score of the responses through descriptive statistic was done. a test of one way analysis of variance (anova) was done to study the difference in the perception of the criticality of these factors by the three groups of respondents, namely the clients, maintenance contractors, and the consultants. factors with a less than 0.05 significance are said to have a different perception among the respondents. to identify which group of respondents had a different opinion, a post hoc (tukey’s b) test was conducted for the factors with a significance value less than 0.05. the test compares the means of the group of respondents. in addition, cronbach’s alpha was used in this study to test the internal consistency among the critical success factors of maintenance projects. factor analysis by principal component analysis method was done to extract the critical underlying factors (see divakar and subramanian, 2009, ghanaee and pourezzat, 2013, tan et al., 2014). 4. results the demographic of the respondents (see table 2) show that 47.6 percent of the respondents were forty years old and above while 74.8 percent had more than five years of practicing experience in the construction industry. also, 25.4 percent, 44.4 percent, and 30.2 percent represent the participation of the client, contractor, and consultant organizations respectively. the descriptive statistics identified fourteen factors overall with a mean score more than 2.50, depicts that the factors were critical to maintenance project success. in addition, the contractors identified sixteen critical factors while the clients and the consultants identified eleven and fourteen critical factors, respectively, as shown in table 3. from the overall mean score of the factors, simplicity of programs, effective maintenance cost allocation budgeting, ease of techniques used, risk management in maintenance work and communication and information flow are the five most critical success factors (csfs) for a maintenance project. table 2: characteristics of respondents demographics of the respondents frequency percentage age of respondents 30-39 33 52.40 40–59 28 44.40 60 and above 2 3.20 professional qualification council of registered builders of nigeria (corbon) 29 46.00 architects registration council of nigeria (arcon) 7 11.10 council of registered engineers of nigeria (coren) 11 17.50 others 16 25.40 gender male 53 84.10 female 10 15.90 years of experience 0–5 16 25.40 5–10 31 49.40 11–15 8 12.70 15 years and above 8 12.70 educational qualification bsc/b.tech 20 31.70 msc 12 19.00 hnd 18 28.60 pgd 8 12.70 phd 5 7.90 business type client organization 16 25.40 contractor organization 28 44.40 consultant organization 19 30.20 the level of significance (sig.) of each factors was extracted from a one way anova test as shown in table 4, it indicated that four factors were significant as viewed by the respondents with a significance level p< 0.05. these factors were partnering (p=. 000), risk management in maintenance work (p=. 007), training of employees in maintenance-related works (p=. 015) and project program and scheduling (p=. 001). this means that the respondents had different perceptions of the factors as they affect their maintenance project’s activities. to study which group of the respondents perceived the factors differently, a post hoc (tukey’s b) test was conducted for the factors whose significance value was less than 0.05. as shown in table 5, the maintenance contractors perceived partnering differently. the reason for this may be due to the challenges faced during business partnerships experienced in the study area. the problems of partnerships, such as trust and integrity between the partners, are major issues with which to contend, and these issues affect successful project deliveries. further, the clients perceived risk management in maintenance work differently. this may be due to the fact that the clients are not directly involved in the execution stage of the maintenance project, whose nature is characterized by many uncertainties and risks. table 5 also indicates that the training of employees in maintenance-related work was perceived differently by the clients and maintenance contractors with an overlapping effect. the issue of training staff to achieve technical competence cannot be overemphasized, but the training of personnel is solely the responsibility of the company owners, which most contractors ignore due to the cost implication and the fact that long time benefits can’t be predicted. however, the clients and the consultants may believe that trained and competent maintenance personnel will deliver a successful project. in relation to a project, program, and scheduling, the clients may perceive differently due to the fact that is not their responsibility to plan for the project; this is certainly the sole duty of the contractor. 34 a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 table 3: ranks of factors that determine maintenance project success variables contractors consultants clients overall mean rank mean rank mean rank mean rank v1 training of employees in maintenancerelated work 2.87 9 2.88 8 2.65 7 2.80 8 v2 ease of techniques used 3.15 3 2.40 17 3.30 1 2.95 3 v3 simplicity of program 3.63 1 2.96 5 2.89 3 3.16 1 v4 information and communication technology (ict) 2.73 12 2.92 6 2.39 13 2.68 10 v5 process coordination 2.07 17 2.92 6 2.83 4 2.61 13 v6 early involvement of project team 2.93 7 2.76 10 2.30 15 2.66 11 v7 experience and competent workforce 2.60 15 2.48 16 2.30 15 2.46 15 v8 maintenance project planning and control 2.87 9 2.16 18 2.22 18 2.42 18 v9 project program and scheduling 2.73 12 3.36 1 2.52 10 2.87 6 v10 partnering 2.67 14 2.60 13 2.30 15 2.52 14 v11 effective maintenance cost allocation budgeting 3.27 2 3.04 3 3.00 2 3.10 2 v12 understanding the stakeholder’s attitude 3.07 5 2.68 12 2.65 7 2.80 8 v13 lean and just in time approaches 2.07 17 2.88 8 2.43 12 2.46 15 v14 continued improvement 2.93 7 3.08 2 2.57 9 2.86 7 v15 standardization 2.87 9 2.56 15 2.52 10 2.65 12 v16 communication and information flow 3.13 4 2.72 11 2.83 4 2.89 5 v17 risk management in maintenance work 3.00 6 3.04 3 2.78 6 2.94 4 v18 working collaboration 2.53 16 2.40 17 2.35 14 2.43 17 note: 1-1.50 (not critical) and 4.51-5.00 (extremely critical) table 4: level of significance for maintenance project success factors factor no factor name sig v1 training of employees in maintenance-related work .007 v2 ease of techniques used .792 v3 simplicity of program .356 v4 information and communication technology (ict) .738 v5 process coordination .128 v6 early involvement of project team .683 v7 experience and competent workforce .421 v8 maintenance project planning and control .203 v9 project program and scheduling .015 v10 partnering .000 v11 effective maintenance cost allocation budgeting .525 v12 understanding the stakeholder’s attitude .334 v13 lean and just in time approaches .087 v14 continued improvement .902 v15 standardization .656 v16 communication and information flow .463 v17 risk management in maintenance work .001 v18 working collaboration .204 table 5: results of the post hoc (tukey’s b) test groups and variables frequency output factor name n subset for alpha=0. 05 1 2 partnering consultant 23 2.26 client 15 2.80 maintenance contractor 25 3.76 risk management in maintenance work consultant 23 1.70 maintenance contractor 25 2.36 client 15 3.13 training of employees in maintenance-related work consultant 23 2.26 client 15 3.00 3.00 maintenance contractor 25 3.44 project program and scheduling consultant 23 2.13 maintenance contractor 25 2.44 client 15 3.27 a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 35 4.1 reduction of number of variables according to field (2005) and ho (2006), factor analysis is used to reduce variables and identify clusters of interrelated variables. to reduce the factors that determine the maintenance success in this study, a varimax with kaiser normalization was employed to generate the final values. to categorize factors into one component, 0.50 values were used as a benchmark. the kaiser-meyerolkin measure of sampling adequacy test value is 0.622, which indicates that the sample size was adequate for factor analysis. the coefficient alpha in this test is 0.801, showing an acceptable internal consistency for these factors. all eighteen success factors identified were subjected to factor analysis with varimax rotation with kaiser normalization criterion (see table 6). table 6: variables loading component variables (initial factors) 1 2 3 4 5 6 training of employees in maintenance-related work (v1) .084 .624 .287 -.005 -.245 -.097 ease of techniques used (v2) .161 .534 .213 .497 -.347 .047 simplicity of program (v3) .050 .760 .082 .110 -.011 .078 information and communication technology (ict) (v4) .787 .117 -.016 .009 -.157 -.010 process coordination (v5) -.022 .019 .073 .111 -.098 .868 early involvement of project team (v6) .401 .068 .564 .368 -.085 -.163 experience and competent workforce (v7) .741 .089 .175 .080 .008 -.077 maintenance project planning and control (v8) .078 .448 .043 .657 .387 .175 project program and scheduling (v9) -.010 .251 .738 -.005 .065 .115 partnering (v10) .343 .631 -.234 -.214 .170 .025 effective maintenance cost allocation budgeting (v11) .348 -.231 .674 -.059 .037 .183 understanding the stakeholder’s attitude (v12) .484 .137 .178 .201 -.655 .118 lean and just in time approaches (v13) .153 -.125 -.070 .767 -.192 .039 continued improvement (v14) .650 -.056 .230 .111 .097 .550 standardization (v15) .127 .462 .560 .126 .388 .106 communication and information flow (v16) .219 -.064 .369 -.070 .633 -.063 risk management in maintenance work (v17) -.070 .383 .536 -.272 .018 .510 working collaboration (v18) .617 .218 .105 .250 .240 .041 note: shaded cells denote common variables in each component. from the results of the factor analysis, the maintenance project success factor variables were grouped into components. the underlying factors extracted were named as (1) team integration and knowledge transfer, (2) project learning and maintenance methodology, (3) stakeholders early project assessment, (4) planning and control, (5) information and communication management within project stakeholders, and (6) quality and risk control as presented in table 7. table 7 further shows the average score of the extracted factors with values greater than 2.50, which indicated that all the underlying factor groups were critical to maintenance project successful delivery. table 7: factors categories factor variables (initial factors) mean score classification major focus (extracted factors) 1 v4, v7, v14, v18 2.53 critical team integration and knowledge transfer 2 v1, v2, v3, v10 2.98 critical project learning and maintenance methodology 3 v6, v9, v11, v15,v17 2.57 critical stakeholders early project assessment 4 v8, v13 2.54 critical planning and control 5 v12, v16 2.62 critical information and communication management within project stakeholders 6 v5, v14, v17 2.58 critical quality and risk control 4.2 discussion of findings this study adds to existing knowledge by providing insights into the critical success factors in building maintenance projects. the present study is the first to report the critical success factors from the perception of the client, contractor and consultancy involved in building maintenance projects in developing countries in 36 a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 construction-related literature. the results of the study show that simplicity of programs, effective maintenance cost allocation budgeting, ease of techniques used, risk management in maintenance work, communication and information flow, project program and scheduling and continued improvement were the seven critical factors that affected the success of maintenance projects in lagos, nigeria (see table 3). these findings are in accordance with several previous studies’ results. for instance, the simplicity of the program and the ease of techniques adopted are seen as csfs which is in line with the results of ad wahid and corner (2009) and alhammad and assaf (1999). furthermore, the findings of the recent study indicate that effective maintenance cost allocation and budgeting can facilitate project success. this outcome is in a similar view with tucker, et al. (2014), that value for money must be attain in project transactions. also, saqid et al. (2008) and straub (2011) attests that cash flow, and the knowledge and competences in calculations of costs in project implementation are required. the ease of techniques adopted in the execution of the project is crucial to successful achievement as shown; this is in accordance to the technical competence found in al hammad and assaf study. risk management in maintenance works entails the safety measures put into place during the pre contract and contract planning stages. these safety issues are also identified in the study of al hammad and assaf (1996) and edmond et al. (2010). njuangang, liyanage, and akintoye, (2015) and straub (2011) believe that effective collaboration and communication is needful for maintenance project success. this relates to the issue of partnership and early involvement of all the team in the project as shown in the current study. in addition, information and communication technology usage is considered vital for project success, njuangang et al. (2015) support this when they reiterate that liaison and communication with ict is a key performance factor. in addition, ali et al. (2006), confirm that knowledge sharing and quality information among stakeholder’s advance positive project achievements. project programming and scheduling is also a critical success factor that determines the performance of maintenance projects in a developing country. according to al-hammad and assaf (1996), alzahrani (2001) and divalcar and subramanian (2009) project planning and scheduling are vital project csf. the ability of the maintenance contractor’s to plan and schedule the maintenance project to be executed is paramount for performance enhancement. inclusively, maintenance project success cannot be achieved without continuous improvement within the organisation and during contract execution. tellingly, it was reiterated by tucker et al. (2014) and wahid and corner (2009) that continuous improvement in an ingredient to a successful project delivery. the influence of stakeholder behaviour on project success cannot be overestimated. understanding of stakeholders or customer altitude is confirmed in the findings of turker et al. (2014); attest that stakeholder opinion is paramount to achieve maintenance project success. added to this fact, njuangang et al. (2015) ascertain that customers’ satisfaction as not being the prime focus of csf as it suppose to be; which is also supported in tan et al. (2014). furthermore, trained, skilful and competent employee’s also contributes to project success as indicated in the study, which is in accordance with the findings in njuangang et al. (2015), straub (2011) and al-hammad and assaf (1999). four success factors were also perceived to be significant to the successful delivery of a maintenance project (in table 4); these were partnering, risk management in maintenance work, training of employees in maintenance-related work, and project program and scheduling. these findings agree with the results of, such as njuangang et al. (2015), tan et al. (2014), bamber, sharp, and hides (1999); and al-hammad and assaf (1996). the effective integration of these four factors will enhance the continuous improvement in the maintenance organization performance. in view of the extracted factors in table 7, the csfs are grouped under six major components as team integration and knowledge transfer; project learning and maintenance methodology; stakeholders early project assessment; planning and control, information and communication management within project stakeholders and quality and risk control. project learning and maintenance methodology will go a long way to determine a successful maintenance project delivery. the lessons learnt and the methods employed from previous projects must be put into play as a preventative measure in any new project environment. this will reduce the effect of encountering similar challenges and mistakes made. further, the understanding of the maintenance processes and procedures will assist the project stakeholders to effectively and efficiently manage the maintenance project activities. also, the ability to manage information and communication flow within the project stakeholders is paramount to maintain a cordial relationship among the project participants and the smooth running of the project execution. in addition, team integration and knowledge transfer induced technical competence and reliability within the project stakeholders; it also facilitates project learning pathways. effective planning and control is necessary to attain quality and reduce the risks involved in the maintenance project delivery. this can be achieved by an early assessment of the project by the stakeholders through a viability and feasibility study of the project. the consideration and implementation of all these success factors for a maintenance project identified in the study will improve the maintenance project cycle. according to edmond, lam albert, and chan daniel (2010), “project success is an abstract concept, the identification of key performance indicators enables project performance to be improved and the quantification of the perceptions towards success even sets a benchmark for construction excellence”. 5. conclusion the management aspects are vital to the successful completion of a maintenance project. the early involvement of all stakeholders is paramount in this regard. the critical factors identified from the results of the study should be effectively monitored by the project a. o abisuga et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 29-38 37 team and the maintenance contractor project manager. the maintenance contractor team should liaise with the client and the consultant organization. this team integration and collaboration acts as a partnership in executing maintenance project and will facilitate a successful completion of such project. however, the results of the study may not be generalized to all project environments. the study recommends that the implementation of these factors will improve building maintenance project outcomes. also, there is a need for further study to explore the relationship between critical success factors and maintenance project outcome in developing countries. references adebayo, o.s. 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(2000). maintenance of government office buildings in nigeria: a post occupancy evaluation approach. phd thesis, department of building, university of lagos, nigeria. jcbm (2019) 3(2). 26-34 maintenance performance of prison facilities in southwestern nigeria o. o. ajayi1, h. a. koleoso2, o. m. ajayi3, j. o. faremi4 1 & 4 department of building, university of lagoa, nigeria; 2 department of estate management, university of lagoa, nigeria; 3 department of quantity surveying, university of lagoa, nigeria. received 8 may 2018; received in revised form 5 august 2018, 28 december 2018; accepted 25 april 2019 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.2.584 abstract maintenance performance measurement aims to assess and improve the value created after maintenance efforts, as it determines the impact of maintenance on the performance of a system or facility and its business process. as objects of maintenance, prison facilities ought to provide a safe and decent environment for prison staff and prisoners to work and live in, as well as for all others who interact with the facilities. this study evaluates the satisfaction ratings of maintenance performance of prison facilities in southwestern, nigeria. a survey approach was adopted to collect data from the relevant nigerian prison staff population of 2,187 prison workers, excluding staff in the maintenance unit within a specific period. stratified sampling technique was used to generate a sample of 1,094, which is representative of the entire population across the prisons. three hundred and eighty (35%) out of the one thousand and ninety-four copies of the questionnaire were completed and returned. data collected were analysed using the spss package. the study found that prison staff showed satisfaction with the level of cleanliness in the prison environment, quality of water and control of ventilation employing a window, as well as partial satisfaction with the twenty-nine other criterion assessed. overall, the study indicated partial satisfaction for performance on prison facilities and established a significant agreement among prison staff regarding the perception of the performance of prison facilities. the research, therefore, suggests continuous evaluation of maintained prison facilities to ascertain their condition and performance levels. keywords: maintenance performance criteria; prison facilities; prison staff; satisfaction ratings 1. introduction in the maintenance management of facilities, the planning, directing, organising and controlling of maintenance activities and services are mandatory (zawawi, kamaruzzaman, ithnin, & zulkarnain 2011). also crucial are measures for evaluating the performance of the facilities to obtain maximum returns on investment. abd rani, basharun, akbar & nawawi (2015) observe that maintenance management involves improving and sustaining facility functions, services and surrounding areas. maintenance management adopts a systematic approach involving standard regulations to be implemented by competent personnel. prison facilities are expected to be fit for purpose, safe from attack, help in rehabilitating inmates before their discharge, and compliant with the current legal framework while meeting standard requirements 1 corresponding author. email address: ofarinloye@unilag.edu.ng regarding health, ventilation, floor space, heat and lighting (consoli 2005; office of the high commissioner for human rights [ohchr] 2008; united nations office on drugs and crime [unodc] 2014). many nigerian prison facilities have maintenance-related challenges, such as facility decadence, sick building syndrome (itchy skin, headaches, stuffy nose etc.), poor ventilation, poor standard of cleanliness and lack of repairs in the cell blocks (health and safety executive [hse] 2000). it is mostly the case that maintenance of facilities is not done in line with actual maintenance needs, owing to inadequate funding by the relevant authorities (www.budgetoffice.gov.ng). these problems are primarily attributed to the reactive maintenance approach syndrome. in recent times, studies on assessment of hostel facilities (adewunmi, omirin, famuyiwa, & farinloye 2010), banking buildings (faremi 2012), the performance university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm--------https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm--------mailto:ofarinloye@unilag.edu.ng mailto:ofarinloye@unilag.edu.ng o. o. ajayi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 26-34 27 of hospital buildings (adenuga 2008) and tenants' satisfaction in housing (oladapo 2006) have emerged. there have also been studies on how well those buildings or facilities match users' needs and on ways to improve design, performance and fitness for purpose. while these previous studies offer useful insights that might be applied in the context of nigerian prison facilities, an in-depth evaluation of prison facilities is necessary owing to their peculiarity and intensity of use (oladapo 2005) as well as the basic standards expected from the usage of prison facilities lighting (unodc 2014). consequently, the performance evaluation of prison facilities will involve systematic evaluation of opinions about facilities in use, especially from the viewpoint of the people who use them. such critical appraisal enables facility owners, maintenance managers and designers to benchmark the quality of services ranging from maintenance and cleaning to the provision of office furniture (wauter 2005). critical appraisals also allow the provision of recommendations for improving facilities services (adewunmi et al. 2011). this is likely to benefit the prison organisation and users of the prison facilities by extending the life span of prison facilities and the satisfaction derived from the quality of maintenance activities (abd rani et al. 2015). it is therefore imperative to have a structured programme which is capable of maintaining prison facilities to required standards, ensuring their availability and enhancing their performance (her majesty's prison service 2005). against this backdrop, this study researches into the maintenance performance appraisal of prison facilities by assessing the perception of prison staff on their satisfaction ratings based on articulated maintenance performance criteria. 2. literature review the maintenance objectives and activities of the prison maintenance unit must align with the overall prison reformative, corrective and rehabilitative functions (parida & chattopadhyay 2007). in nigeria, the state headquarters of the prison service handles the management and administration of maintenance activities and decisions, while individual prisons control the deployment of maintenance staff. this type of administrative system is known as semi-centralised (williams, 2004). maintenance management is an orderly and systematic approach to planning, organising, monitoring, and evaluating maintenance activities and their costs (technical information document 2000). it also involves controlling and executing maintenance activities which ensure optimum levels of availability of facilities and overall performance of plants, buildings or facilities (davies & greenough 2001). the process involves clear maintenance policies and techniques which could be adopted to keep facilities serviceable while minimising cases of breakdown (shohet, lavy-leibovich & bar-on 2003; abd rani et al. 2015). technically speaking, the scope of maintenance management covers every stage in the life cycle of a system (i.e. plant, equipment or facility), as well as processes of acquisition, planning, operation, performance evaluation, replacement and disposal (murray et al. cited in tsang, jardine & kolodny, 1999). this implies that maintenance management ideas for prison facilities should be conceived right from the acquisition of the facilities and run through the stages of evaluating the performance of facilities to replacing of facilities due to wear and tear and disposing of obsolete prison facilities (ajayi 2016). consequently, having an effective maintenance management structure with competent maintenance staff will improve quality and extend the life span of prison facilities, while also enhancing the health, comfort and safety of occupants (technical information document 2000; abd rani et al. 2015). 2.1 maintenance efficiency efficiency is defined as a function of value and productivity. karlof (cited in then, 1995) described efficiency as "value created in relation to productivity." value could be described as the relationship between utility and price, while productivity may be viewed as the relationship between the number of units, products or services produced and cost. in the context of this study, value is perceived as customer (prison staff or inmates) satisfaction while productivity is the number of maintenance services undertaken on prison facilities (pun, chin, chow, & lau 2002). according to the united nations centre for human settlement [unch] (2003), efficiency is the amount of input resource, usually in monetary terms, per unit of maintenance service delivered. this might as well be described as all inputted maintenance resources such as human resource, equipment/plant/tools/spare parts and finances per unit of quality of maintenance activities provided by the maintenance unit of the nigerian prison service. these resources are imputed to meet up with the prison staff requirements and expectations (bleul 2004). 2.2 maintenance performance measurement maintenance performance focuses on the condition of facilities in relation to customer service; it allows for duly recognising the impact of maintenance on the performance of a system and business (murthy, atrens, & eccleston 2002). maintenance performance indicators (mpis) are sets of measures used for measurement of maintenance impact on the process. they are sets of metrics used to quantify the efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance actions (parida & uday 2009). these measures are equipped with baselines and realistic targets to facilitate prognostic and diagnostic processes and justify associated decisions and subsequent actions at appropriate levels in the organisation to create value in the business process (liyanage & kumar 2002). several performance indices on reliability, availability and productivity are widely used in relation to production plant/equipment and service industries. overall system effectiveness measures whole organisations while individual system effectiveness measures items/components. evaluating the performance of entire organisations or any items/components/facilities reveals whether there are substantial achievements in individual systems or there is a success in continuous improvement. where a particular system/facility degrades rapidly, 28 o. o. ajayi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2).26-34 overall system effectiveness deviates accordingly. consequently, such deviation hastens organisations to implement correction (pun et al. 2002). mpis helps organisations to recognise what maintenance is doing, that is, the effect of maintenance on business (reformatory) performance and reliability of buildings/equipment /facilities within the organisation (wardhaugh 2004). in essence, mpis measure and identify performance gaps between current and desired performance, thereby providing improvement to close up the identified gaps. in the literature, performance indicators which are suitable for measuring the performance of the business process and facilities of the organisation have been developed. ellingsen, kumar, hamre, waldeland, nilsen, dragesaet and liyanage (2002) suggest a performance measurement framework for the norwegian oil and gas industry which is based on a balanced scorecard model to include financial indicators, customer perspective, infrastructure and innovation. hagerby and johansson (2002) developed key performance indicators, which were evaluated and benchmarked among six process industries in norway and sweden. these kpis include total effective equipment productivity, the direct cost of maintenance, redundancy, customer satisfaction index of the maintenance service, rework direct cost due to maintenance, and health safety environment cost due to maintenance. their study investigated the companies' strategies and processes as well as their influence on the indicators. the study confirmed difficulties in benchmarking maintenance organisations due to the poor and inconsistent classification of data as well as the diversity of operating conditions. a study on practice of maintenance operations in six large-scale steel, public utility, transportation, and process industries in hong kong and canada found that the most frequently used measures for performance are financial indicators such as operation cost, maintenance cost, equipment availability, labour productivity, and number of incidents caused by in-service failures (tsang et al. 1999). these measures are primarily used for operational control purposes, and they reflect short-term performance outcomes. further, the study also reveals the unawareness of organisation/management of the fact that measurement systems could achieve vertical alignment of goals and horizontal integration of activities. according to wardhaugh (2004), the study identifies useful indicators for maintenance to include the reliability of equipment, quality and speed of execution/responses, maintenance costs, and prediction of failure. the study concludes that kpis should drive a proactive maintenance performance that will fuse into the organisation's business. parida and chattopadhyay (2007) opine that performance measurement involves monitoring maintenance and employee satisfaction against a list of maintenance performance indicators. among the list are equipmentrelated indicators, maintenance task-related indicators, cost-related indicators and impact on customer satisfaction. other indicators affirmed by the study are learning and growth, health, safety, security and the environment (hsse) as well as employee satisfaction. furthermore, studies by kotze and visser (2012) on the south african mining industry identified the extent of use of 32 maintenance performance indicators in maintenance organisations. the most frequently used indicators include safety audits score, reliability, frequency of breakdown, equipment utilisation, lost time frequency rate, cost per unit, total downtime, meantime repair, and schedule compliance. the least-used indicators include total productive maintenance, percentage of maintenance tasks done by operations, continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. oladapo (2005; 2006) identifies some concepts in staff housing maintenance performance, such as customer satisfaction measures, reliability of building services, number of tenant complaints, and responsiveness of the maintenance unit to tenant's needs. based on the overall maintenance of the staff house, the study established that 31.1% of the respondents rated their satisfaction below average, while 28.4% rated it above average. a more balanced approach to maintenance performance measurement emphasises the level of occurrences on maintenance performance measures. the most utilised measures include technical, economic and safety measure as well as human resources while the least used measures include training/learning, skills/competencies, work incentives, process performance, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction (simoes, gomes & yasin 2011). without doubt, the condition of buildings or facilities is a measurement maker and a typical way to measure and predict the performance of facilities (wahida, milton, norazela, nik mohd & abdul hakim 2012). this suggests that for the maintenance management process to be completed in systems or facilities, the performance of such a system must be evaluated to ascertain its condition. in essence, assessing the performance of prison facilities will help in evaluating the impact of maintenance activities on the value of the facilities (al-najjar 1996; parida & uday 2009). considering that the current study focuses on the performance of prison facilities, it is essential to categorise their performance variables for adaptability within the nigerian prison context. the relevant variables are quality of space, response to complaints, maintenance-task related indicators, and costrelated indicators. 3. research method this section explains the method of collecting data and the procedures taken to outline the steps addressing the study. the study adopts a survey approach for assessing the perception of prison staff on the satisfaction derived from maintenance performance of prison facilities. the population comprises prison staff in southwestern nigeria, while the sample frame includes prison staff with the exclusion of staff in the maintenance unit. as a relatively new area of interest within a prison context, the study examined customer satisfaction based on the consumer's perspective and the maintenance impact on the customer's business process, which means that the value generated for the customer is assessed and not the view of the maintenance service provider. the stratified sampling technique was used to determine the sample size (columbia centre for new media and teaching [cnmtl] 2012). the population of prison staff (nonmaintenance) in lagos (ikoyi, badagry, maximum, o. o. ajayi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 26-34 29 minimum and female prisons, kirikiri), ogun (old abeokuta, new abeokuta, ijebu-ode, ilaro and shagamu prisons), oyo (oyo and agbodi prisons), osun (ile-ife and ilesha), ondo (akure, ondo male, ondo female, owo, okitipupa prisons) and ekiti prison was investigated to determine the researchable sample at a 95% confidence level and a 0.05 precision level (israel 2013). data for the study was collected through copies of the questionnaire and analysis of the study data was done with the spss statistical package. 4. discussion of findings table 1: sample size for prison non-maintenance staff in southwestern nigeria prison (strata) population size sample size lagos prisons 624 244 ogun prisons 331 181 oyo prisons 338 183 osun prisons 307 174 ondo prisons 453 212 ekiti prison 134 100 total 2187 1094 source: www.gov.ng/prison-info the minimum sample sizes needed for the study was 244, 181, 183, 174, 212 and 100, respectively (see table 1). for this study, the accuracy of ±5% was desired; hence, the sample size of one thousand and ninety-four (1,094) was generated. table 2 describes the number of returned copies of the structured questionnaire from each prison locations. a total of 380 copies of the questionnaire (35%) were returned out of the 1,094 copies administered. table 2: survey returns of copies of questionnaire prisons prison staff (non-maintenance) sample size number returned response rate % lagos 244 93 38.11 ogun 181 86 47.51 oyo 183 46 25.41 osun 174 38 21.83 ondo 212 87 41.03 ekiti 100 30 30 total 1094 380 34.73 table 3 presents information on the educational background of the prison staff. results revealed that ninety-six (25%) members of the prison staff had the ordinary national diploma certificate. seventy-two (19%) had higher the national diploma certificate and one hundred and one (27%) had first degree certificates. furthermore, twenty-eight (7%) members of staff and one (less than 1%) member of staff had master's degrees and phd qualifications respectively. the figures suggest that the data from the copies of the structured questionnaire would be useful and reliable to some extent. also, table 3 shows that two hundred and eight (55%) respondents had a length of service of fewer than ten years. one hundred and fifty-six (41%) respondents had a length of service between ten (10) years and twenty-nine (29) years, while eight (2%) respondents had been in service for more than thirty (30) years. this implies the availability of a reasonable number of respondents from whom data can be retrieved on the survey. table 3: demographic profile of respondents demographic profile options frequency percentage educational qualification ond 96 25 hnd 72 19 b.sc./ b.tech 101 27 m.sc. 28 7 phd 1 1 others 74 19 missing 8 2 length of service less than 10 years 208 55 10 – 19 years 104 27 20 – 29 years 52 14 30 years and above 8 2 missing 8 2 total 380 100 4.1 prison staff satisfaction level in southwestern nigeria the performance of prison facilities was assessed based on prison staff satisfaction ratings using maintenance performance criteria (adewunmi et al., 2010) on a likert scale. the finding were interpreted on a graduated scale of 1– 5: 1.00 ≤ ms < 1.49 means high dissatisfaction, 1.50 ≤ ms < 2.49 means dissatisfaction, 2.50 ≤ ms < 3.49 means partial satisfaction, 3.50 ≤ ms < 4.49 means satisfaction and 4.50 ≤ ms ≤ 5.00 means high satisfaction. some common variables were extracted from the literature and simplified for adaptation within the context of nigerian prisons. the satisfaction survey instrument is a simple 32-item questionnaire. the questions relate to financials (money spent on reporting faults, spare parts), equipment efficiency (security, communication, fire safety gadget), labour productivity (maintenance unit response to complaints, quality of work done by maintenance staff), and infrastructure (vehicular access, adequacy of car park, meeting space, exterior and interior of buildings, quality of water). these also involve indicators related to maintenance tasks, such as quality and speed of execution, the responsiveness of workforce, as well as asset inventory and indicators related to maintenance costs (oladapo, 2005; adewunmi et al., 2010). http://www.gov.ng/prison-info http://www.gov.ng/prison-info 30 o. o. ajayi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2).26-34 table 4 presents the frequency count and the mean score of the level of satisfaction for each performance criterion. the mean scores for each criterion ranged from 3.82 to 2.66. the results in table 4 suggest satisfaction among the prison staff on some criteria. the aspects of the prison environs deemed as providing satisfaction to prison staff are highlighted as follows: • level of cleanliness in prison environment (3.82 mean score; 24.8 per cent highly satisfied and 46.4 per cent satisfied) • quality of water (3.57 mean score; 2.1 per cent highly satisfied and 39.1 per cent satisfied) • control of ventilation using windows (3.55 mean score; 17.8 per cent highly satisfied and 39.5 per cent satisfied) also, table 4 suggests partial satisfaction among the prison staff on the following criteria: • quality of work done by maintenance staff (3.42 mean score; 15.7 per cent highly satisfied; 33.3 per cent satisfied and 33.3 per cent partially satisfied) • adequacy of the car park (3.41 mean score; 19.2 percent highly satisfied; 32.8 percent satisfied and 26.4 percent partially satisfied) • space for meetings (3.39 mean score; 17.2 percent highly satisfied; 35.5 percent satisfied and 24.5 percent partially satisfied) • waste removal (3.37 mean score; 13.7 percent highly satisfied; 38.3 percent satisfied and 25.6 percent partially satisfied) • adequacy of artificial and natural lighting (3.37 mean score; 12.2 percent highly satisfied; 35.6 percent satisfied and 34.5 percent partially satisfied) • (3.37 mean score; 13.7 percent highly satisfied; 38.3 percent satisfied and 25.6 percent partially satisfied) • quality of building exterior (3.34 mean score; 13.2 percent highly satisfied; 33 percent satisfied and 32.4 percent partially satisfied) • quality of building interior (3.33 mean score; 15.3 percent highly satisfied; 27.8 percent satisfied and 35.1 percent partially satisfied) • vehicular access (3.31 mean score; 14.2 percent highly satisfied; 33.1 percent satisfied and 31.5 percent partially satisfied). furthermore, table 4 lists the aspects of the prison environs which are deemed to provide the least partial satisfaction to prison staff: • security (cctv, alarm system, digital video recorder etc.) (2.66 mean score; 14.2 percent highly satisfied; 33.1 percent satisfied and 31.5 percent partially satisfied) • ease of communication (telephone, internet facilities, voice speakers' etc.) (2.70 mean score; 11.4 percent highly satisfied; 22.7 percent satisfied and 18.3 percent partially satisfied) • fire safety (2.97 mean score; 10.9 percent highly satisfied; 25.4 percent satisfied and 29.3 percent partially satisfied) • exit route (2.98 mean score; 14.2 percent highly satisfied; 27.2 percent satisfied and 19.1 percent partially satisfied) • level of maintenance backlog (2.98 mean score; 8.4 percent highly satisfied; 25 percent satisfied and 31.8 percent partially satisfied). in general, only three performance criteria recorded mean scores ranging from 3.82 to 3.55, while the remaining 29 criteria had scores ranging from 3.44 to 2.66. this implies that members of the prison staff are partially satisfied with the performance of prison facilities. this suggests the low performance of prison facilities and could be a cogent reason why nigerian prison facilities are perceived as places of punishment ("prison of horror," 2000; nyakaisiki, 2008). table 5 also presents the mean scores of the level of satisfaction for each performance criterion on a state by state level. in lagos prisons, the mean scores for each criterion ranged from 3.75 to 2.64. prison staff showed satisfaction with the level of cleanliness at a mean score of 3.75 and partial satisfaction with all other criteria including ventilation 3.45, meeting space 3.38, quality of water 3.37, quality of buildings 3.36, lighting 3.27, ability to perform routine maintenance 3.24, waste removal 3.23, car park 3.22, level of maintenance backlog 2.80, money spent on purchasing minor parts 2.79, ease of communication 2.77, and security at mean score of 2.64. in ogun prisons, mean scores for each criterion ranged from 3.92 to 2.61. prison staff were satisfied with the level of cleanliness of the environment at a mean score of 3.92, control of ventilation through windows 3.62 and quality of water 3.51. the prison staff were partially satisfied with all other criteria including the adequacy of car park 3.49, the odour of environs 3.48, quality of work done 3.42, lighting 3.39, waste removal 3.34, money spent on reporting faults 3.30, ability to prioritise maintenance works 3.26, and cost of transporting maintenance staff 3.26. in oyo prisons, mean scores for each criterion ranged from 3.77 to 2.51. prison staff showed satisfaction with the quality of water 3.77, level of cleanliness of prison environment 3.73, waste removal 3.62, and quality of maintenance works 3.52. they also showed partial satisfaction with all other criteria including vehicular access 3.43, cost of transporting maintenance staff 3.41, routine maintenance 3.40, the behaviour of staff 3.37, communication 2.51 and dissatisfaction with security gadgets 2.40. mean scores for each criterion in osun prisons ranged from 4.03 to 2.59. prison staff showed satisfaction with level of cleanliness in the prison environs at a mean score of 4.03, quality of water 3.83, ventilation 3.74, quality of work done 3.72, meeting space 3.71, behaviour of maintenance staff 3.69, adequacy of car park 3.67, exterior of building 3.67, odour 3.63, comfort level 3.63, waste removal 3.54 and partial satisfaction with money spent reporting faults 3.46, routine maintenance 3.45, ability to prioritise maintenance works 3.39, reporting of defect 3.14, level of nuisance 3.40, level of backlog 3.14, sound 3.12, speed of work 3.03, security 2.79, and ease of communication 2.59. the mean scores of criteria in ondo prisons ranged from 3.91 to 2.87. staff showed satisfaction with level of cleanliness 3.91, quality of water 3.70, ventilation 3.69, quality of work done by maintenance staff 3.66, interior of buildings 3.62, lighting 3.55, adequacy of car park 3.54, meeting space 3.52, comfort level 3.50 and partial o. o. ajayi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 26-34 31 satisfaction with waste removal 3.48, vehicular access 3.47, money spent on reporting faults 3.46, routine maintenance 3.45, behaviour of maintenance staff 3.44, fire safety 3.30, sound 3.30, money spent on purchasing minor parts 3.27, maintenance backlog 3.24, response time 3.14, ease of communication 2.88, and security 2.87. in ekiti prisons, mean scores for each criterion ranged from 3.37 to 2.41. prison staff showed partial satisfaction with most criteria including lighting at a mean score of 3.37, ventilation 3.37, level of cleanliness 3.33, adequacy of car park 2.90, quality of water 3.21, meeting space 3.20, speed of work 3.10, quality of work done 3.07, comfort level 3.03, response time 3.00, interior of building 2.96, ease of communication 2.67, sound 2.63, odour of environs 2.60, money spent on purchasing minor parts 2.50, and dissatisfaction with cost of transporting maintenance staff 2.41. table 4: prison staff perception on maintenance performance of prison facilities no performance criteria prison staff responses % ms hs s ps d hd quality of space 1 level of cleanliness in the prison environment 24.8 46.4 19.7 3.7 5.3 3.82 2 waste removal 13.7 38.3 25.6 16.2 6.2 3.37 3 adequacy of artificial and natural lighting 12.2 35.6 34.5 12 5.7 3.37 4 control of ventilation by means of windows 17.8 39.5 28.1 9.5 5.1 3.55 5 odour of environment 13.7 32.8 27.7 15.6 10.2 3.24 6 comfort level in building 11.3 29.6 36.3 19.1 3.8 3.26 7 space for meeting with visitors 17.2 35.5 24.5 14.8 8.1 3.39 8 sound insulation 6.7 33.5 29.1 16.8 14 3.02 9 furniture arrangement 7.6 29 32.8 19.5 11.1 3.02 10 quality of exterior of building 13.2 33 32.4 17 4.3 3.34 11 quality of interior of building 15.3 27.8 35.1 18.3 3.5 3.33 12 quality of water 2.1 39.1 22.4 10.4 7.1 3.57 13 fire safety 10.9 25.4 29.3 19 15.4 2.97 14 security (cctv, alarm system, digital video recorder etc.) 9.7 21.4 21.7 19.4 27.8 2.66 15 ease of communication (telephone, internet facilities, voice speakers’ etc.) 11.4 22.7 18.3 19.9 27.7 2.70 16 exit route in case of emergency 14.2 27.2 19.1 21.3 18.3 2.98 17 vehicular access 14.2 33.1 31.5 12.3 8.9 3.31 18 adequacy of car park 19.2 32.8 26.4 12.8 8.9 3.41 response to complaints/repairs 19 procedure for reporting defects and getting work done 10.3 34 29.1 19 7.6 3.20 20 time taken by maintenance unit to respond to complaints 8.4 28 30.5 21.6 11.6 3.00 21 behaviour of maintenance unit staff 11.4 32.2 33.8 16.8 5.9 3.26 22 level of maintenance backlog (i.e. defect you have reported but yet to be done) 8.4 25 31.8 25.3 9.5 2.98 23 level of nuisance (i.e. disturbance and interference with your privacy by maintenance staff) 6.4 32.6 37.8 17.4 5.8 3.16 maintenance task related indicators 24 asset inventory ( i.e. the way maintenance staff identify physical features that require maintenance 8.7 31.4 35 19.5 5.4 3.18 25 ability of maintenance department to prioritise maintenance needs with available resources 10.6 31.2 33.6 18.2 6.5 3.21 26 speed of work ( i.e. repairs time) 11.1 27.8 33.7 20.8 6.7 3.16 27 quality of work done by maintenance staff 15.7 33.3 33.3 13.8 3.8 3.43 28 ability to react to emergency maintenance 12.2 28.5 30.4 19.5 9.5 3.14 29 ability to perform routine maintenance 15 26 36.3 16.6 6.1 3.27 cost related indicators 30 money spent reporting faults 11.7 31.9 31.1 19.1 6.3 3.24 31 cost of transporting maintenance staff 10.6 29.6 35.9 17.8 6 3.21 32 money spent on purchasing minor parts 8.5 26.8 33.3 22 9 3.03 grand mean 3.21 where: ms=mean score hs = highly satisfied, 5; s = satisfied, 4; p = partially satisfied, 3; d = dissatisfied, 2; hd = highly dissatisfied, 1. interpretation scale: 1.00 ≤ ms < 1.49 means high dissatisfaction, 1.50 ≤ ms < 2.49 means dissatisfaction, 2.50 ≤ ms < 3.49 means partial satisfaction, 3.50 ≤ ms < 4.49 means satisfaction and 4.50 ≤ ms ≤ 5.0 means high satisfaction. 32 o. o. ajayi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2).26-34 table5: prison staff perception on maintenance performance of prison facilities based on prisons state where: hs = highly satisfied, 5; s = satisfied, 4; p = partially satisfied, 3; d = dissatisfied, 2; hd = highly dissatisfied, 1. interpretation scale: 1.00 ≤ ms < 1.49 means high dissatisfaction, 1.50 ≤ ms < 2.49 means dissatisfaction, 2.50 ≤ ms < 3.49 means partial satisfaction, 3.50 ≤ ms < 4.49 means satisfaction and 4.50 ≤ ms ≤ 5.0 means high satisfaction. no performance criteria prison staff responses pooled mean score lagos prisons ms ogun prisons ms oyo prisons ms osun prisons ms ondo prisons ms ekiti prison ms quality of space 1 level of cleanliness in the prison environment 3.75 3.92 3.73 4.03 3.91 3.33 3.82 2 waste removal 3.23 3.34 3.62 3.54 3.48 3.00 3.37 3 adequacy of artificial and natural lighting 3.27 3.39 3.18 3.37 3.55 3.37 3.37 4 control of ventilation by means of windows 3.45 3.62 3.33 3.74 3.69 3.37 3.55 5 odour of environment 3.12 3.48 2.96 3.63 3.34 2.60 3.24 6 comfort level in building 3.13 3.10 3.16 3.63 3.50 3.03 3.26 7 space for meeting with visitors 3.38 3.21 3.33 3.71 3.52 3.20 3.39 8 sound insulation 3.01 2.87 2.98 3.12 3.30 2.63 3.02 9 furniture arrangement 3.05 2.76 2.88 3.16 3.35 2.80 3.02 10 quality of exterior of building 3.36 3.18 3.11 3.67 3.59 2.90 3.34 11 quality of interior of building 3.31 3.24 3.14 3.42 3.62 2.96 3.33 12 quality of water 3.37 3.54 3.77 3.83 3.70 3.21 3.57 13 fire safety 2.84 2.70 2.91 3.35 3.30 2.83 2.97 14 security (cctv, alarm system, digital video recorder etc.) 2.64 2.51 2.40 2.79 2.87 2.76 2.66 15 ease of communication (telephone, internet facilities, voice speakers’ etc.) 2.77 2.61 2.51 2.59 2.88 2.67 2.70 16 exit route in case of emergency 2.92 2.75 2.80 3.23 3.32 2.80 2.98 17 vehicular access 3.20 3.24 3.43 3.61 2.90 3.31 3.31 18 adequacy of car park 3.22 3.49 3.22 3.67 3.23 3.44 3.41 response to complaints/repairs 19 procedure for reporting defects and getting work done 2.98 3.26 3.27 3.38 2.83 3.20 3.20 20 time taken by maintenance unit to responds to complaints 2.90 2.87 2.95 3.28 3.00 3.00 3.00 21 behaviour of maintenance unit staff 3.03 3.20 3.37 3.69 3.44 2.93 3.26 response to complaints/repairs 22 level of maintenance backlog (i.e. defect you have reported but yet to be done) 2.80 2.96 2.88 3.14 3.24 2.87 2.98 23 level of nuisance (i.e. disturbance and interference with your privacy by maintenance staff) 3.06 3.00 3.32 3.29 3.40 2.93 3.16 maintenance task related indicators 24 asset inventory ( i.e. the way maintenance staff identify physical features that require maintenance 3.02 3.14 3.30 3.24 3.40 2.79 3.18 25 ability of maintenance department to prioritize maintenance needs with available resources 3.02 3.26 3.19 3.39 3.44 3.10 3.21 26 speed of work ( i.e. repairs time) 3.01 3.12 3.20 3.03 3.40 3.07 3.16 27 quality of work done by maintenance staff 3.19 3.42 3.52 3.72 3.66 2.80 3.43 28 ability to react to emergency maintenance 3.06 3.08 3.16 3.29 3.34 2.90 3.14 29 ability to perform routine maintenance 3.24 3.12 3.40 3.42 3.45 3.27 cost related indicators 30 money spent reporting faults 3.05 3.30 3.20 3.43 3.46 2.73 3.24 31 cost of transporting maintenance staff 3.10 3.26 3.41 3.32 3.39 2.41 3.21 32 money spent on purchasing minor parts 2.79 3.01 3.25 3.19 3.27 2.50 3.03 grand mean 3.09 3.15 3.18 3.40 3.41 2.91 3.21 o. o. ajayi, et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 26-34 33 comparing prison staff satisfaction among the state prisons, osun prisons staff showed satisfaction with the highest number (12) of assessed performance criteria, ranging from 4.03 to 3.54. ondo prisons showed satisfaction with ten performance criteria, ranging from 3.91 to 3.5. oyo prisons showed satisfaction with four performance criteria, ranging from 3.77 to 3.52. ogun prisons showed satisfaction with three performance criteria, ranging from 3.92 to 3.54. lagos prisons showed satisfaction with only one (1) performance criterion, while ekiti showed no satisfaction with any of the assessed performance criteria. largely, ekiti prison showed partial satisfaction with the highest number (31) of performance criteria, ranging from 3.37 to 2.50. lagos prisons showed partial satisfaction with 30 performance criteria, ranging from 3.45 to 2.64 and ogun prisons showed partial satisfaction with 28 performance criteria, ranging from 3.49 to 2.40. while oyo prison staff were partially satisfied with 27 performance criteria, ranging from 3.43 to 2.51, osun and ondo prison staff were partially satisfied with 20, and ten performance criteria, respectively. also, oyo prisons and ekiti prisons showed dissatisfaction with only one (1) criterion each, with mean scores of 2.40 and 2.41, respectively. 4.2 hypothesis testing to affirm staff satisfaction as an index for measuring the maintenance performance of prison facilities, there is a need to confirm the significance of agreement in their assessment of various maintenance performance criteria. for this reason, the study, therefore, postulates the following hypothesis. null hypothesis: there is no agreement among prison staff (non-maintenance) on satisfaction ratings of prison facilities in southwestern nigeria. alternative hypothesis: there is agreement among prison staff (non-maintenance) on satisfaction ratings of prison facilities in southwestern, nigeria. table 6: kendall’s coefficient of concordance test for prison staff satisfaction with maintenance performance of prison facilities cases kendall’s w chi-square df p-value 255 0.75 596.115 31 0.001 a non-parametric kendall's coefficient of concordance test for satisfaction ratings of prison facilities based on identified performance criteria was conducted. the result indicated that there was agreement among prison staff on the perception of maintenance performance of prison facilities at p < 0.05 levels; hence, the null hypothesis was rejected. this result is in agreement with findings on staff housing maintenance performance (oladapo, 2006), the slight difference being the type of facility studied and the scale of measurements. 5. conclusion and recommendations the study measured the impact of maintenance on prison facilities and value generated in terms of satisfaction from the use of facilities based on the performance criteria evaluated. the study revealed the satisfaction level for each assessed performance criterion. the study also showed partial satisfaction with maintenance performance of prison facilities and significant agreement among prison staff satisfaction ratings on the maintenance performance of prison 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http://www.unchs.org/english/maiten/2.htm. wardhaugh, j 2004, ‘useful key performance indicators for maintenance’, paper presented at the singapore iqpc reliability and maintenance congress: maintenance – the best practices, www.lifetimereliability.com. wahida, nr, milton, g, norazela, h, nik mohd, lbnl, & abdul hakim, m 2012, ‘building condition assessment imperative and process’, procedia-social and bahavioral sciences, vol. 65, pp. 775-780. wauter, b 2005, ‘the added value of facilities management: benchmarking work processes’, facilities, vol. 23, no. 3/4, pp.142-151. william, gs 1994, ‘the design, development and maintenance of executive information systems for corrections, probation and parole’, paper presented at the symposium on criminal justice information systems and technology: building the infrastructure, www.bop.gov/resources/..../oresaylor1.pdf zawawi, ema, kamaruzzaman, sn, ithnin, z & zulkarnain, sh 2011, ‘a framework for describing csf of building maintenance managements’, procedia engineering, vol. 20, pp. 110-117. jcbm (2019) 3(1). 1-7 firm attributes and performance: a study of architectural firms in nigeria a. a oluwatayo 1, d. amole2 and o. a. alagbe3 1,.3 department of architecture, covenant university, ota, ogun state, nigeria; 2 department of architecture, obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria received 15 june 2018; received in revised form 17 july 2018; accepted 3 august 2018. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.592 abstract the performance of architectural firms has been a concern to the professional bodies. studies have however shown that there are factors within organisations that influence their performance. from the resource-based theory of the firm, this study aims to identify attributes in the profiles, structure and strategies of architectural firms, which are associated with the success of these firms. the performance of firms is conceptualized according to profitability, while the attributes considered are the ones identified as resources in the resource-based theory of the firm. data on the attributes and performance of the firms were obtained from a survey of ninety-two randomly selected architectural firms in nigeria, using questionnaires and interviews. the results of the discriminant analysis carried out show that factors, which were related to the successes of the firms, include the availability of information technology facilities and the level of specialization of duties. the findings suggest that appropriate sizes, professionally qualified staff; and provision and use of it facilities were areas that architectural firms can concentrate on for enhanced performance. keywords: architectural firms, architectural practice, firm attributes, firm performance, nigeria, professional service firms. 1. introduction scholars such as phua (2006) have noted that the economy determines the performance of industries and their structures. however, the unique attributes of a firm determines its performance relative to the other firms within the same industry. this suggests that determinants of firms' successes may be industry specific. in the context of architectural firms, larsen (2005) and white (2005) decried the poor performance and subsequent failures of many architectural firms in europe and america respectively. only 25 per cent of architectural firms in america is said to exist beyond the first three years (schwennsen, 2004). this poor performance is also evident in the fact that individual architects are alleged to be paid lower salaries than their counterparts are in other professions. flynn-heapes (2000) attributed poor performance of architectural firms to the tendency by principals of these firms to build the firms around clients instead of around proven business principles. it is often believed that business gets in the way of the arts that the profession seeks to project. this has often led to the lack 1 corresponding author. email address: dapo.oluwatayo@covenantuniversity.edu.ng of attention to issues of management and profitability. there are however firms, which have proven that it is possible to build profitable firms (cramer, 2006). very little study however exists on the attributes that make for success in these firms. it is therefore of interest to this study to investigate high-performing firms in comparison to low-performing ones to elucidate the unique attributes that distinguish between them. the unique attributes of firms are said to be important determinants of their performance (rumelt, 1991). this principle is based on the resource-based theory of the firm (rbt). the unique attributes of firms consist of their resources and capabilities. proponents of this theory described the resources in the firm as the assets, knowledge, capabilities and organizational processes, with which the organisation gain competitive advantage. studies, which consider the performances of firms in relation to their resources, also consider the contexts of the firms. such contexts include the strategy, structure, and environment of the firms. several studies have investigated firm-specific resources and capabilities and how they influence the performances of the firms. very university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.592 mailto:dapo.oluwatayo@covenantuniversity.edu.ng 2 a. a. oluwatayo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 3(1). 1-7 few of these studies, however, focus on architectural firms. the purpose of this study is to investigate the unique attributes, which distinguish high performing architectural firm from the low-performing ones. this study is justified in three ways. first, architectural firms, as firms in the construction industry are increasingly under pressure to run more effective practices for the delivery of quality services. a study of this nature may, therefore, contribute to the debates on the attributes that make for successful practice in the construction industry. second, there is a need to bridge the gap between practice and scholarship. this is in the light of the fact that research must precede practice. third, the study provides empirical data from the context of architectural firms, which are mostly managed by principal architects, who may or may not have formal management training. 2. firm resources and performance some studies have drawn attention to the issues of leadership, core competencies, market orientation, and corporate culture as factors, which make some companies more successful than others (matzler et al., 2010). it is believed that these are the resources and capabilities of the companies with which they gain competitive edge. the concept that captures this is the resource-based theory (rbt). the rbt (penrose, 1959) states that firms compete on the bases of resources or capabilities that are valuable, rare, and difficult to substitute and imitate. while the resources of the firms are said to include the financial capital, physical assets, technology, personnel, reputation and brand image, the capabilities include business processes and routines. in this context, a firm is "a collection of resources bound together in an administrative framework, the boundaries of which are determined by the area of administrative coordination and authoritative communication". there are important dimensions of the rbt highlighted in the literature. these, according to bainey and hesterly (1999) include financial resources, physical resources (such as machines), human resources (experience, training), and organizational resources (reputation, teamwork and trust). also, the contexts such as the strategy, structure, and environment of the firm are taken into cognizance of the context in which the resources are used. while many of these attributes are within the control of the firms, the environment in which the firm operates is not within the control of the firms. some of these factors that have been investigated in literature these include the size, the organizational structure, human resources, and managerial orientations of top management (matzler et al., 2010). other factors in the literature include the culture of the firms and market orientations of organizations. besides, skills and technologies have also been found to influence the performance of organizations. the performance of an organization is often defined in terms of its growth, advantageous market position/ market share, competitiveness and profitability. performance in this study is defined in terms of the profitability of a company. a significant resource in architectural firms, which this study focuses on, is the human resource. this is because the industry, as a professional service industry, is labour and knowledge-intensive (pathirage et al., 2007). services rendered often depend on the knowledge and skill of the workforce. also, sirmon et al. (2011) observed that managers vary in the ways they manage resources and these differences influence firm performances. the ways managers manage their firms could depend on the attributes of the managers. it may therefore be expected, that the characteristics of the principal may influence the way the firm is run and subsequently the performances of the firms. besides, matzler et al. (2010) noted that the orientation of leaders of firms also determines what the organization invests time and resources on. this goes further to inspire and motivate employees of the firm to achieve set objectives. the manager in an architectural firm is usually the owner, who is referred to as the principal. this principal may or may not have any management training, but is nonetheless saddled with the responsibility of managing the firm. in this respect, the study by kim and arditi (2010) found that the education, experience, and leadership styles of owners of construction firms influence the performances of those firms. technology, which has been mainly conceptualized as information technology (it), has also been found to influence firm performance (koellinger, 2008). scholars (for example, benbunan-fich, 2002) argued that technology could be used to gain competitive advantage. in other words, it is also a resource in an organization, which may determine the performance of the firm in the end. also, it is said to be an enabler of innovation, which is very important to architectural firms. in fact, koellinger (2008) and tanriverdi (2005) associated it with innovation. according to barret and sexton (2007), innovation, which entails solving problems using new ideas, technologies, and processes, is a means of achieving sustainable competitiveness in the construction industry. matzler et al. (2010) also investigated innovation orientation of top executives concerning their willingness to take risks and search for new solutions. matzler et al. found that organizations with higher innovation orientation were more successful. apart from innovation orientation, other strategies influence firm performance (aragon-sachez and sanchez-marin, 2005). the strategies of a firm are the approaches the firm adopts to please customers, achieve organizational goals, and create competitive edge. these strategies could influence the technology, personnel characteristics, and profiles of organizations (thompson et al., 2004). although scholars have found that the influence of other attributes of an organization on its performance is moderated by the strategy as posited in the rbt, the direct influence of strategy and performance is investigated in this study. debates on the influence of strategies of firms on the performances of the firms abound in literature. starting from the studies of miles and snow in 1978, scholars seem to agree that prospectors, defenders, and analyzers outperform reactors, in that order. the findings of matzler et al. (2010) also suggest that organizations that focus on innovation as their orientation tend to outperform other organizations. while the prospector strategy seeks to identify and exploit new opportunities, firms adopting the defender strategy seek to protect their market and a. a. oluwatayo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-7 3 establish stability, reliability, and efficiency. liu, ratnatunga and yao (2014) observed that organizations that compete using the defender strategy often use the cost leadership approach. analyzers on the other hand focus on cautiously seeking innovativeness, combining the characteristics of both the prospectors and the defenders. this is in contrast with the reactor strategy where course of action depends on existing situations. previous research such as the one by zott and amit (2007) have also focused on the role of organizational design in determining the performance of firms. the structure of an organization denotes the task and job reporting relationships in the organization. the dimensions of the structure identified in literature are centralization, formalization, and specialization (miller and droge, 1986). while centralization denotes the extent to which decision-making is concentrated in top management, formalization is the extent to which rights and duties of members of the organization are written. specialization, on the other hand, is the extent to which tasks are divided into sub-tasks which individuals are assigned to. the attributes within the firm are investigated in this study. these include the it, personnel, and culture of the firms. also, the structure and strategy of the firms are also investigated. in addition to these resources, size (tsai, 2014) and culture (matzler et al. 2010) are said to influence firm performance. the culture was measured in terms of intensity. the size of the firm has been measured in the literature by the total number of employees, sales and net sales. literature suggests that firms with larger sizes outperform smaller ones. there is however the need to investigate these attributes that influence organisational performance in a professional context, such as architectural firm. this will contribute to knowledge in this field and define the limits of generalisation of findings. one of the flaws identified in previous studies by matzler et al. (2010) is that only successful companies were investigated. these authors highlighted the importance of relating seemingly successful companies with others in order to identify what makes them successful. matzler et al. also highlighted the flaws of relying on only interviews for such studies as the senior executives tend to attribute the successes of their companies to themselves. in this study, high performing firms were compared with the ones that did not perform so well. also, measured from the literature that indicate firm attributes were used to obtain data in selfadministered questionnaires. 3. research method the cross-sectional survey was adopted as a research strategy for this study. this design collects data at a given time from a representative sample to allow results to be generalised to a larger population. the unit of data collection was the firm, and the sources of data were the principals of the firms or their representatives. respondents for this study were randomly selected from the list of architectural firms that were registered to practice in nigeria arcon (2006). using the formula proposed by adedayo (2006), [n =n⁄(1+α^2 n ) where n = sample size; n = population α = level of significance, which for this study is 0.05]. a sample size of 157 out of 341 registered firms was arrived at. the firms were then approached and asked to fill questionnaires, which consisted of three sections. the first section gathered data on the profiles of the firms including personnel, while the second section gathered data on the strategies, structure and it characteristics. in the third section, data on the performances of the firms was gathered. only 97 of the questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 59 per cent. the respondents were the principals of the firms, and where they were not available, the senior associates within the firms were asked to fill the questionnaires. eight of the principals were also interviewed to gain deeper insight into the subject of study. the measures of technological positions include the availability of it facilities (computers, intranet and internet), and application of internet facilities in carrying out operations within the firms. these were measured on 3-point scales of not available at all/ not used at all to highly available/ highly used. data on the qualifications and gender of architects of the firms were also obtained. other human resource data obtained included those on the gender, age, experience, qualification of the principals of the firms. firm size was measured in terms of the number of staff within the firms. the respondents also indicated the legal ownership forms of their firms. respondents were asked to indicate on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) their level of agreement with 11 statements that represent their strategies. the statements include phrases such as "new ideas and technology are the determinants of the strategies of this firm"; "we are very cautious with risky ventures"; we aggressively pursue business opportunities" and maintaining tradition and consistency is very important to us". a cluster analysis of the firms was then carried out to determine the strategies that exist. the first cluster had a strategy that was similar to the prospector strategy of miles and snow (1978). the firms in this cluster allowed new ideas and technology to determine their strategy, are highly innovative, but are cautious in risky ventures. the firms in the second cluster had a strategy similar to the defender strategy. these firms scored very high in maintaining tradition and consistency, although they are achievement-driven. while firms in the third cluster had strategies similar to the analyzer strategy, those in the fourth cluster had a strategy similar to the reactor strategy. this is because the while the firms in both the third and fourth clusters scored high in the exercise of caution in a risky venture and allowing new ideas and technologies to determine their strategies, firms in the third cluster were, also, innovative. the structure of the firms was measured in terms of the specialization, formalization, and centralization in the firms. for the level of specialization, the respondents were asked to indicate the tasks that were carried out exclusively by one person. the respondents were also asked to indicate the level to which procedures and rules were written to deduce the level of formalization within the firms. the level of centralization was deduced from the responses of the principals and associates on the ones 4 a. a. oluwatayo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 3(1). 1-7 who took certain decisions. the options were arranged in order of seniority in the firms. ali et al. (2013) identified the measures available for measuring performance in the construction industry. objective data were however not available in the architectural firms. respondents were also reluctant to declare their profit and access to audited accounts was not given. the respondents were, however, willing to indicate on a scale, their perception of the profitability of the firms. wall et al. (2004) and runyan et al. (2008) concluded that these subjective measures are as valid as objective measures when obtained from members of the top management. we, therefore, operationalized performance as the perception of the profit of the firm in the last two years on a 5-point likert scale, which ranged from "not good at all" to "very good". 4. results and discussion the results in table i show that more than half of the firms could be said to have recorded good performances in the preceding two years. these could be classified as firms with high performances, while the other firms could be classified as firms with low performances. the firms in the study were mostly sole-principal firms, aged less than 15 years and with most of the firms having less than 20 staff. table i further shows that most of the firms indicated low level so specialisation, but high levels of centralisation of decision-making and formalisation of office activities. the firms were headed by principals who were mostly aged above 40 years, with more than 15 years of experience, and having worked in two firms or less. table 1: profiles of the architectural firms variables percentage performance of the firms very good 32.6 good 39.3 fair 24.7 not so good 3.4 age of the firms 0-5 years 9.9 6-10 years 16.0 11-15 years 27.2 16-20 years 19.7 21-25 years 13.6 26 years and above 13.6 size of the firms 1-5 staff 14.9 6-10 staff 33.3 11-20 staff 27.6 21-30 staff 8.0 31-40 staff 6.9 41-50 staff 5.8 51 staff and above 3.5 level of specialisation no specialised task 9.5 1-2 specialised task 41.7 3-4 specialised task 21.4 5-6 specialised task 19.1 7 or more specialised task 8.3 level of formalisation informal 7.5 fairly formal 37.5 very formal 55.0 level of centralisation of decisionmaking moderate level of centralisation 31.9 high level of centralisation 68.1 level of availability of information technology facilities low 26.0 moderate 30.1 high 43.8 the degree of use of internet facilities low use 33.8 moderate use 36.9 high use 29.2 legal structure of ownership sole principal 52.3 partnership 21.6 unlimited liability company 8.0 limited liability company 18.1 gender of the principal male 89.8 female 10.2 age of the principal below 30 years 1.2 31-40 years 22.4 41-50 years 43.5 51-65 years 27.1 above 65 years 5.9 highest qualification of the principal hnd 3.5 bsc 3.5 msc 43.5 barch 42.4 others 7.1 years of experience of the architect 1-5 years 1.5 6-10 years 12.1 11-15 years 15.2 16-20 years 18.2 21-25 years 21.2 26 years and above 31.8 management style of the principal a mentor in the firm 9.3 a visionary and innovative leader 38.4 an efficient manager 11.6 a productivity-oriented achiever 40.7 number of firms the principal worked in before starting the firm none 3.5 1 firm 17.6 2 firms 54.1 3 firms 18.8 4 firms 2.4 5 or more firms 3.5 strategy prospector 29.3 defender 30.4 analyser 29.3 reactor 10.9 discriminant analysis was carried out to investigate the variables, which differentiate high-performing architectural firms from low-performing ones. all the attributes earlier mentioned were entered as independent variables. the perceptions of profits were entered as dependent variables. for this analysis, the responses "not good at all", "not good" and "fair" were recoded as 1, while the responses "good" and "very good" were recoded a. a. oluwatayo et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 1-7 5 as 2. table ii shows the variables that best differentiated the high-performing architectural firms from the lowperforming ones. the wilk's lambda was significant for the discriminant function, (λ2 = 60.49, df = 25, p = 0.00). what this suggests is that the discriminant function does better than chance at separating the two groups. these results confirm that the unique attributes of the architecture firms determine their performances, relative to other firms in the industry as asserted by matzler et al. (2010) and phua (2006). the discriminant variables include the size, levels of specialization and formalization, as well as the levels of availability of it facilities and use of internet in carrying out the operations of the firms. other factors, which distinguish highperforming architectural firms from low-performing ones, are the gender and leadership styles of the principals. the structure matrix shows that the availability of it facilities had the highest standardized coefficient, suggesting that it is most successful at discriminating between highperforming and low-performing architectural firms. this is followed by level of specialization, then size of the firms. table 2: factors that discriminate between high-performing architectural firms and low-performing ones factor wilks' lambda f standardized coefficients sig. level of availability of information technology facilities .560 24.371 .176 .000** level of specialization .758 9.923 .112 .004** size of firm .769 9.303 .109 .005** gender of principal .800 7.750 -.099 .009** level of use of internet facilities .807 7.428 .097 .010* level of formalization of office activities .849 5.509 .084 .025* leadership style of principal .862 4.980 -.080 .033* ownership form of firm .895 3.655 .068 .065 number of architects with bsc .933 2.214 .053 .147 number of architects with ond/hnd .938 2.042 .051 .163 highest qualification of the principal architect .943 1.864 .049 .182 number of architects with other qualifications .965 1.116 .038 .299 age of firm .969 1.005 .036 .324 number of architects with barch/msc .973 .847 .033 .365 level of centralization .981 .602 -.028 .444 number of female architects .988 .383 .022 .541 number of registered architects .988 .382 .022 .541 strategy type .991 .291 -.019 .593 number of firms principal had worked previously .993 .230 -.017 .635 age group of the principal .997 .093 .011 .762 years of experience of principal .999 .028 .006 .869 further interrogation of the data shows that the highperforming architectural firms were mostly headed by male principals whose described themselves as either efficiency manager or productivity-oriented achievers. the fact the firms with male principals were found to perform better than those with female principals may be connected with the gender biases and challenges faced by female principals, whom one of the respondents to the interview described as often being "saddled with domestic issues". besides, a female interviewee noted that most female principals might not be achievement oriented, stating that "men are more ambitious." the high-performing firms were also smaller, in terms of the number of employees, confirming that size influences the performance of firms (tsai, 2014). this result is also similar to that of greenwood et al. (2005) who found that larger professional service firms were poor performers. this had to do with the total number of employees in the firms. however, firms with more architects with higher architecture qualifications performed better than those with fewer architects in those categories. this may suggest that the composition of the employees in the firms, not just the number may be more relevant in determining firm performance. confirming the results of koellinger (2008), it also influenced the firms' performances. it facilities were highly available in the high-performing firms. it would thus appear that, as in previous studies (barret and sexton, 2007), it was used as a tool to gain competitive advantage. also, the level of specialization in the high-performing firms was high; the level of formalization was low. the fact that the strategies of the firms did not directly differentiate between highand lowperforming architectural firms may confirm the approach of the rbt that the influence of other attributes of the firms on performance is moderated by the strategies of the firms (aragon-sachez and sanchez-marin, 2005), although little direct influence may be observed. in the study by kim and arditi (2010), the qualifications of the employees as well as the principals were found to influence the performance of firms in the construction industry. this study, however, found that none of these distinguished the high-performing architects from the ones that did not perform so well. one reason for this may be that the present study only took samples from one profession in the construction industry. it may also signify that other training apart from core architectural skills may be necessary to run a high-performing firm. this may be evident in the fact that principals who led by demanding 6 a. a. oluwatayo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2018) 3(1). 1-7 efficiency and productivity had firms that performed better than those who were just innovative or mentors. the design of the organizations also differentiated the firms in terms of their performances as found by zott and amit (2007). this was not expected as literature describes the structure of organizations a moderating variable, which influences other attributes of the firms, which in turn influence the performances of the firms. in particular, higher specialization of tasks was common with highperforming architectural firms. this may follow from the fact that when tasks are repeated, persons develop dexterity in handling those tasks to the benefits of their organizations. however, the level to which rules and procedures were written in the high-performing firms was lower. 5. conclusion and recommendations this study contributes to the resource-based theory (rbt) of the firm by investigating attributes that distinguish high-performing firms from those that do not perform well in the context of architectural firms. direct influences of strategy and structure were investigated in addition to the moderating effect of the relationship between firm attributes and performance suggested in literature. the findings reveal the direct influence of specialization and formalization dimensions of the structure of the firm on its performance. this study concludes that architectural firms’ attributes influence their performance. attributes such as economic sizes, qualification of staff, and availability and use of it facilities were significant in this respect and may indicate areas that architectural firms may focus on to improve performance. what would represent an economic size has however not been investigated in this study. further studies may focus on the right sizes for architectural firms in the construction industry. without detracting from the usefulness of the findings of this study, a few limitations were observed. first of all, this study has only been carried out using samples of architectural firms in nigeria. some variances in the results, 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[online] http://www.architecture.com/filelibrary/pdf/construct ive_change_report_-_full_(final).pdf (august 17, 2017) zott, c. and amit, r. 2007. business model design and the performance of entrepreneurial firms. organizational science 18(2): 181-199. jcbm (2019)3(1).18-26 respondents’ perception of risk factors on residential property development in abuja, nigeria o. t. ogunbayo1 1 department of estate management, obafemi awolowo university, nigeria. received 9 may 2018; received in revised form 20 june 2018; accepted 2 august 2018. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.588 abstract significant risk factors such as social, technological, economic, environmental and political in the timing development, minimization of cost and expected return as they influence the successful delivery process of residential property development were investigated in this study towards enhancing real estate development decisions. this is expedient because it has been argued that the link between project success criterions determines a successful project delivery. data were obtained from members of real estate developers association (redan) in abuja through the use of a self-administered questionnaire. the respondents were asked to rate the influence of risk factors on residential property development parameters, and the data were computed using logistic regression analysis. the study revealed that real estate developers were more concerned with the influence of economic and technological risk than other sources of risk. also, the statistical effects were computed through logistic regression analysis. it was explained by significant value (p<0.05) which depicts the likelihood of the risk factor which could either be positive or negative, as explained by beta (β). the findings revealed the effect of economic risk factors in timing development to be (β=1.833, p<0.05). also, the effect of technological risk factors to influence development cost were found to be (β=--.187, p<0.05) while the effect of economic risk factors on return was found to be (β=1.026, p<0.05). the main contribution of the study to the body of knowledge is developing a risk factors assessment technique for practitioners and academia to assess the residential property development performance as related to timely completion, cost and returns to enhance the need to develop competence in managing and minimizing the effect of risk factors on the residential investment appraisal. keywords:development appraisal, expected return, profit maximization, residential property, risk analysis, time. 1. introduction risk is a part of everyday life. the distinction between financially successful and unsuccessful people is the early awareness of risk in their businesses operations. tularam and attili (2012) opined that decision makers successfully manage situation subject to uncertainty by awareness of risks inherent in the project. the real estate industry comprised an extensive range of organizations and individuals in the developing and operating property to meet housing needs in the country (udia 2003). property development as a whole is risky, and it has been asserted that every part of a project is fraught with risk which could result in deviation from the expectation. it is expected that the higher the complexities of the project, the higher the risks involved in such projects (belo and agbatekwe, 2002; newell and steglick, 2006). 1corresponding author email address: ogunbayoot@gmail.com however, the basic parameter has been identified as critical factors to achieve project success. for instance, bowen et al. (2012), michell et al. (2007) established the link between time, profit and total value for money in the literature. rwelamila and hall (1995) argued that poor handling of the three parameters is detrimental in achieving project objectives. the study likened cost, time and quality as three points of the triangle that neglecting one parameter would have an adverse effect in attaining a successful project. this explained that in the long run, timely completion of a project would secure profit and upon completion guarantee a return on investment. moreover, the three basic parameters have been considered as one that determines the feasibility of a project objective to guarantee a successful and profitable development. all these measures are inevitable in university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.588 mailto:ogunbayoot@gmail.com o. t. ogunbayo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 18-26 19 property development and are usually affected by the consequences of risk. meanwhile, khumpaisal (2007); otegbulu, et al., (2011) posited that property development is subject to risks that are related to social, technological, environmental, economic and political factors which could hinder timely completion of project, expected income, use and general orientation of the proposed project. during the past, research has concentrated more on the real estate development process and the risks evident throughout the property development process (ogunbayo et al. 2018, muka et al. 2015, khumpaisal, 2007, newell and steglick 2006) but research into the investigation of risk analysis in the real estate development period, the project cost flow and the total value which could have an impact on the investment decision making has received little attention, hence the need for the study. also, with the current economic trends both in developed and emerging countries, rational investors will only be interested in developing a project that could be completed within a defined period as well as being able to predict the likely anticipated returns and profit on investment. thus, real estate investors need to understand the effect of the significant risk factors on the project criterion to enhance profit over the total value of the project. also, this study will be limited to residential property development in abuja. fisher and robson (2006), windapo and martin (2010) opined that property development is a multifaceted process that comprises features which fluctuate with time and place that could affect development given that real estate market is localized. thus, it has been justified that real estate developers are keen towards residential property development due to the commercial activities in the state which has encouraged migration of people from different countries across the world and these are a strong indication that influence residential property development opportunities in abuja, hence, the need for the study. the main aim of this study is assessing the social, technological, economic, environmental and political risk factors in residential property development as related to the timely completion, expected returns via the quality of the project and the overall cost of an investment in order to tap into the potential of real estate sector. this is because it has been revealed that proper handling of these parameters guarantees a successful investment decision making. 2. literature review 2.1 project time, cost and quality numerous researchers have conducted studies on the criteria to measure a successful project delivery that enhances property decision-making process. meanwhile, lui et al. (2015), suggested that there is need to develop the concept of operational excellence in construction and management consulting industries because of the complexity of the project so as to enable team members to perform the specified tasks in the right manner, at the right time as to ensure a desirable outcome. thus, the criterion is seen as a determiner to enable successful project performance (bowen et al.2012, michell et al.2007). 2.1.1 time the clients, contractors, real estate developers have seen time as one of the critical factors in arriving at a successful project development. completion of projects within the specified timeframe or schedules is a major problem confronting real estate development projects; thus it is worthwhile to carry out a survey investigating how the risk factors could impact the timely project delivery. studies such as divakar and subramanian (2009) examined the concept of time in a construction project. the study argued that scheduling of project is faced with uncertainties which could result in project time overrun ranging from days to week and weeks to months depending on the project condition. the study identified critical factors as cash flow of the budget, preparation of bill of quantities, coordination between agencies parties that could cause project time overrun if not adequately monitored. dissanayaka and kumaraswamy (1999) evaluated the factors that could affect time performance in hong kong construction industry. the data were analyzed with the use of multiple linear regression and artificial neural network. the finding revealed that nonprocurement related factors such as clients, project characteristics and client representative characteristics are the main factors that could influence the timely completion of a project. while chan and kumaraswamy (1996) asserted that risk is an unavoidable element in construction projects and identified that contractorrelated" factor category has a high impact on time performance than a client-related factor. nevertheless, all these studies examined the construction time performance in building projects, but the scope did not cover the influence of risk on the timely completion of residential property development. 2.1.2 cost rational investors or clients are concerned with the overall profitability of a project generally. charles and andrew (1990), saidu and shakantu (2017) presented cost overrun in relation to the timely completion of a project as a principal factor that could result in high construction cost of building projects. chimwaso (2000) examined the cost performance of a public project in botswana and factors that influence construction cost overruns. the study used a questionnaire survey to elicit information among professionals in the construction industry. thus, the study ranked variations, remeasurement of provisional works, fluctuations in the cost of labor and materials, contractual claims, that is, claims for extension of time with cost as the critical factors that could influence cost performance of public projects in the study area. whilst kaming, et al., (1997), cox, et al., (1999) identified design changes, inadequate planning, unpredictable weather conditions; and fluctuations in the cost of building materials, inaccurate experience of project location and type as main factors that could influence cost performance of a project. thus, these studies examined the factors influencing cost performance of building projects, but the scope did not cover the entire basic project criterion for achieving successful delivery of a project which is the focal point of the present study. 20 o. t. ogunbayo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 18-26 2.1.3 quality it has been observed that to determine the quality performance of building projects there is a need to consider the service received by the owner and the end user of the developed project as to improve the quality performance. vincent and joel (1995) presented total quality management as "the integration of strategy and structure, technical component and culture within an organization to achieve continuous improvement of the quality of goods and services. thus, the project will start to realize important, quantifiable, and noticeable improvements if the three elements have been put in place. a study conducted by sanni and windapo (2008) investigated the quality control practices on construction site in lagos to establish the contractor's alignment with the implementation of the quality control plan in the study area. the study analyzed data with the use of descriptive and inferential statistics, and the results revealed that most of the contractors do take quality control plan. the study further details that there is a significant relationship between having an effective quality control plan and delivering a high-quality project in the construction industry. in the same manner, firuzan et al. (2010) identified the elements that could influence contractors' quality performance in the construction industry with the view to developing an effective construction process and improving the levels of satisfaction derived by the customers. the study identified the elements as related to the construction product, service, and the corporate quality culture. the study further recommended that a quality control plan should be implemented to guide the contractors to enhance the quality of their operations and high-quality building projects. however, the scope of these studies did not examine the influence of quality performance on residential property development that could improve real estate development decisions in accruing maximum returns. jazayeri and dadi (2017) investigated the indicators that could guarantee safety management system in construction industries in the united states of america. the study further explained that researches drawn elements of safety management by analysis of accidents, the structure of the highly reliable organization among others as this could enable owners, contractors, and decision makers to choose and implement methods to improving the performance of construction safety management system. in the same manner, alsulamy et al. (2012) reviewed the key performance indicators on the cost, quality and time through the use of construction process model that spanned through the initiative to execution stage as to ensure delivery of projects and meet the needs and expectation of the stakeholders. the study concluded that performance measurement in the construction sector and corporate level differs. this is because the construction cost, time and quality are relied upon in determining the extent of project success while the corporate level is evaluated based on the financial and non-financial measures. the study implied that the performance measurement indicators should be considered as marketing tools to achieve a desirable outcome. nevertheless, these studies were a theoretical investigation of significant metrics in the measurement of project performance but did not investigate the influence of risk on the successful delivery of the building projects. contrary, an empirical study conducted by jazayeri et al. (2018) examined the perception of the subcontractor on the influential factors to the project's cost, schedule, quality, and safety outcomes to assess management safety policies. the study developed a safety rating system that could enable clients and contractors to evaluate subcontractor management procedures and policies for improving safety performance. however, the scope of the study did not examine the influence of risk on the project success criterion which is the focus of this study. however, successful project delivery could be attained with the integration of the basic parameter to realize the feasible objective of the project. a study by olaku et al., (2015) investigated the perception of stakeholder on the parameters for successful project delivery. the study used descriptive statistics such as a mean and ranking method which revealed time, under budget and precise specification as the main criterion in enhancing a successful building project in niger delta, nigeria. also, chandr et al., (2012) posited that project success could be measured by time, cost, quality, profitability and customer satisfaction. the study used the project indicators to predict the function of stakeholders on project success in east java. the findings revealed the role of stakeholders' influence which regarded as stakeholder impact, stakeholder engagement, and stakeholder psychological empowerment was correlated to project success. the studies were conducted in african countries, but the scope did not cover the respondent's perception of the analysis of risk factors on the three criterions for a successful project delivery which is the focus of this paper. in summary, the manner in which the clients, contractors and real estate developers engaged in housing development projects will exert a significant influence on the project outcome. however, all these studies did not examine time, cost and quality in relation to the influencing risk factors in determining the most optimal value of the project. therefore, there is a need to understand the critical risk factors that could affect the project success criterion in other to generate well-planned strategies for improving the performance of future building projects. 2.2 risks in real estate development risk is unavoidable in property development process. its influence can easily be discerned from the inception of the idea, project feasibility, design and planning, construction and disposal stage (khumpaisal and chen, 2010; sotoni et al., 2010). risk connotes different meaning depending on the exposure to difficulty or loss. the us-based project management institute (pmi) (2008) defined risk as “an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs will have either a positive or negative effect on one or more of the project’s objectives”, which could be project cost, time, scope and quality. in addition, risks in real estate development have been related to the “separation of design from construction, lack of integration, poor communication, uncertainty, o. t. ogunbayo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 18-26 21 changing environment and increasing project complexity and economic changes such as inflation and deflation, and regional economic crisis including greater competition” which could be understood as the risk that could cause adverse effect on the property development (gehner, et al., 2006). several authors such as (muka et al. (2015), otegbulu et al. (2011), chen and khumpaisal (2009), identified property development risk factors as social, technological, economic, environmental and political because of the overall impact on the project management processes with respect to project delay, project cost, overrun, the usage and management of the property which could result in the variation of the total value of the project whilst akintoyeand macleod (1997) identified different risk factors with respect to construction project under extensive group of physical, environmental, design, logistics, financial, legal, political, construction and operation risks. all these risk factors depend on their sources and nature of the project been considered by the developers or investors within a given environment. however, for this study, the analysis of social, technological, economic, environmental and political (steep) risk factors in residential property development are considered while other sources of risk were neglected since it has been established in the literature that steep risks are peculiar with the real estate development. these risk assessment criteria or indicators used in the design of the questionnaire survey are briefly summarized as follows. table 1: risks assessment criteria for the real estate development risk criteria risk assessment workforce availability this risk measures the level of developer’s satisfaction in relation to the workforce availability in the project trade area (danter, 2007) community acceptability this is measured by the degree of benefit of the project to the local communities cultural compatibility this is measured by the perception of the developers toward the lifestyle harmony in the local market area public hygiene the degree of impacts on local public health and safety due to the development of the specific project language barrier this is measured by the degree of satisfaction of the developers towards the influence of language in the project area. location the risk is measured by the degree of the location concentration on properties values site condition this is measured by the degree of difficulties in selection of site or preparation of the site for a project. designers and constructors it is measured by the developers’ satisfaction with the professional experience with regards to the requirement of the development plan multiple functionalities it is measured by the degree of technical difficulties in construction which could affect the project construction cost (lam et al. 2006) duration it is measured by the total duration of the design and construction which has been specified in the project development plan amendments it is measured by using the possibility of amendments in design and construction for each specific development plan accessibility and evacuation it is measured by the access degree and quick emergency depending on the design of the project (moss et al., 2007). inclement weather condition it is measured by the perception of the developers on the influence of weather condition on the project adverse environmental impact it is measured by the overall impact of the environment in the project area. pollution it is measured by the perception of developers towards the degree of land pollution in relation to the specific development work hour restriction it is measured by the rate of work hour restriction during the developmental stage of a project. accident related loss it is measured by the level of the risk impact on the financial aspect of the development project. demand and supply it is measured by the degree of estimation of demand and supply of similar property. cash flow liquidity it is measured by the degree of ability to pay the contractual sum lifecycle valuation it is measured over five years for properties in the area area accessibility measured by using the degree of regional infrastructures usability associated with a specific development fluctuation in material price it is measured by the degree of impacts of variation in the prices of materials on projects interest rate this is assessed by the degree of impact change in interest rate on project investment. marketing liquidity it is measured by the sale of property at the same rate in terms of unit price and transaction time of similar properties in the trade area investment returns to measure the expected investment returns are internal rate of return, net present value or return on investment in real estate development 22 o. t. ogunbayo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 18-26 political group or activists this is measured by the degree of protest of the urban communities in relation to real estate development in the trade area. rigid bureaucracy or corruption this is measured by the perception of the developers’ satisfaction towards project administration of the same kind of real estate development project local tax/council approval this is measured by the total days of construction design approval process by abuja metropolitan management council (ammc) and the rate of the local tax impact on a specific project. source: chen and khumpaisal (2009) 3. methodology primary data was used for this study. the data were elicited through the use of questionnaire administration and sourced from the member of real estate developers association (redan) abuja chapter, nigeria. it was observed that there were 65 active members in abuja, the study adopted a total enumeration survey. out of 65 members, about 90% questionnaire was accurately filled and returned. there is a consensus among housing experts on the need for a paradigm shift from government provision to partnerships between the public and private sectors because the government lacks enough resources to address growing housing challenges in many developing countries (odebode & oladokun, 2010) and hence the choice of redan members for this study. the study selected project time, cost, and profitability as the criteria for project success. this is principally because of the cost, time, and profitability metrics are objective. consequently, our dependent variable, "residential property development success", is binary, with 1 indicating that a project finishes within budget, scheduled time frame and makes a profit whilst the criteria for our independent variables are based on an extensive review of literature in real estate development risks because it has been explained that risks and uncertainties occurred in all real estate development projects which could have impact on overall project development processes as relates to project delay, project cost overrun and the usage of the property that causes a considerable loss in project income (khumpaisal 2007, otegbulu et al. 2011). therefore, to evaluate the effect of development risk factors (social. technological, environmental, economic and political) in project success, respondents were asked to rate their perception on the relative influence of the risks in project criteria in other to arrive at risk factors that could influence a successful residential property development decision. also, the respondents were asked to rate on a likert scale from 1-no effect to 5-very high, and the results were used to compute logistic regression analysis. the data were analyzed through the use of statistical package for social sciences (spss). the logistic regression (lr) explores the predictive ability of sets or blocks of variables, and it specified the entry of variables. in logistic regression, instead of predicting the value of a variable y from a predictor variable x1 or several predictor variables (xs), it predicts the probability of y occurring given known values of x1 (or xs). the logistic formulas are stated in terms of the probability that y = 1, which is referred to as ṗ. the probability that y is 0 is 1ṗ. 𝑃(𝑦) = 1 1 + 𝑒−(𝑏0+𝑏𝑖𝑥𝑖+⋯+𝑏𝑛𝑥𝑛) where p(y) is the probability of y occurring, e is the base of natural logarithms, and the other coefficients form a linear combination much the same as in simple regression. the efficiency of lr models was established. as 81.8 per cent of the total cases were found to be correctly predicted for timely completion of the project, 61.8 per cent were correctly predicted for cost overrun rate of the project while 65.5 per cent was predicted for the expected return on the project. hence the established lr models can be used to examine the relationship between the risk factors in residential project success criterion. thus, this paper presents the logistic regression analysis on the residential property development in the study area. it was used to determine the level of contribution and the level of significance of the independent variables (social, economic, technology, political and environmental risk factors) on the dependent variables to achieve a possible delivery process. 4. discussion and findings presented below are the significant findings of the study discussed under various subheadings. table 1: 1. demographic information variables levels frequency percentage ownership private(individual) 46 83.6 corporate (limited liability) 9 16.4 years of experience 1-10yrs 31 56.4 11-20yrs 15 27.2 21-30yrs 7 12.7 31yrs above 2 3.6 job position of the respondent project manager 23 41.8 director 1 1.8 managing director 3 5.5 senior manager 1 1.8 o. t. ogunbayo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 18-26 23 manager 15 27.3 architect 2 3.6 estate surveyors 6 10.9 advisory valuer 1 1.8 quantity surveyors 3 5.5 risk acceptability optimistic (risk-loving) 19 34.5 pessimistic (risk averse) 29 52.7 midway between optimistic and pessimistic (risk neutral) 7 12.7 total 55 100.0 table 1 shows that 46(83.6%) of the real estate organization is privately owned while 9(16.4%) are corporately owned. this can be inferred that private real estate developers participate more in real estate development in the study area. also, it is observed that 56.4% of the organizations have 1-10 years of experience in real estate development, 27.2% fell within the range of 11-20 years of experience; while 12.7% and 3.6% have 21-30 years and above 31years' experience respectively. this showed that a reasonable number (43.5%) of the companies had obtained above ten years' experience and suggested that there has been rapid progress in real estate sector over the years in the federal capital territory, abuja. further examination of table 1 also showed the job position of the respondents in the organization with 23(41.8%) of total respondents being project managers, director of project 1(1.8%), managing director accounts for 3(5.5%), senior managers 1(1.8%), manager 15(27.3%), architect 2(3.6%), estate surveyors 6(10.9%), advisory valuers 1(1.8%) and quantity surveyor accounts for 3(5.5%). the outcome of the results implied that the respondents are competent, experienced and qualified them in exercising sound judgment in providing answers to the questions. hence, the responses provided by them could be relied upon for this study. besides, it can be established from table 1 that 29(52.7%) of the real estate developers accounted for risk-averse, 19(34.5%) accounted for risk-loving while 7(12.7%) accounted for risk neutral (i.e. midway). it can be implied that due to the fact the property development is fraught with risk, the respondents still geared by the expected return to be accrued from building projects. 4.1 risk factors for timely delivery, cost and return (value for money) on residential property development the lr analysis begins with the selection of statistically significant independent variables to be included in the analysis. the outputs given in table 2.1-2.3 showed the stepwise lr result indicating the estimated coefficients and related statistics of the developed models for time, cost and value for money of the residential property development. thus, among the five factors, economic factor is found to be significant as regards the timely completion and return of the project while technological factors play the most significant role in explaining the effect in cost performance of the residential property development. table 3: the effect of risk factors on the timely delivery of residential property development b s.e. wald df sig. exp(b) social factor .261 .852 .094 1 .759 1.298 technological factor .250 1.191 .044 1 .834 1.284 environmental factor -.677 .602 1.265 1 .261 .508 economic factor 1.833 .758 5.854 1 .016 6.253 political factor .188 .433 .188 1 .665 1.206 constant -3.925 2.781 1.992 1 .158 .020 cox & snell rsquare= .270, nagelkerke r square=.441 table 2.1 showed the influence of risk factors on residential property development timely completion and the significant value is set at .05. from the analysis, it is found that the variables in the equation explained between 27.0% and 44.1% variability in the dependent variable (timely completion) as suggested by (cox & snell rsquare= .270, nagelkerke r square=.441). it is evident from the analysis that economic risk factor is statistically significant to timely delivery of residential property development. the significant value is at .016, and the wald level that is the contribution of the factors in timely completion is 5.854. furthermore, from the table, the likely effect of economic risk factors on timely delivery in residential property development is accounted as 1.833. this implied that a decrease in the effect of economic risk factors would lead to the successful, timely delivery of the development and vice versa. the outcome of the result is in agreement with the study conducted in ghana (chileshe and yirenkyi‐fianko 2012), malaysia (alaghbari et al., 2007), cambodia (durdyev et al. (2017) and nigeria (owolabi et al.,2014) that revealed that changes in the economic risk variables such as fluctuation in the cost of materials, lack of payment for completed works, changes in interest rate among others could impact project in terms of the speed of construction resulting into the delay in the progression of development through unworkable project scheduling and late delivery of material. 40 o. t. ogunbayo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 18-26 table 4: the effect of risk factors on the cost of residential property development b s.e. wald df sig. exp(b) social factor -.298 .647 .211 1 .646 .743 technological factor -1.925 .711 7.319 1 .007 .146 environmental factor -.187 .388 .232 1 .630 .830 economic factor .489 .718 .464 1 .496 1.631 political factor .120 .277 .186 1 .666 1.127 constant 7.035 2.656 7.018 1 .008 1135.974 cox & snell r square= .273, nagelkerke r square=.371 table 2.2 shows the effect of risk factors in cost that will lead to profit maximization. in this case, the risk factors in the equation explained between 27.3% and 37.1% variability in the dependent variable. also, the significant column provided information on the variables that contributed significantly to the predictive ability of the dependent variables. the technological risk factor is statistically significant to profit maximization at a p-value of 0.007. the beta (b) value in the second column explained the probability or likelihood of the predictor variables on the dependent variables and also showed the direction of the relationship. the outcome of the result indicated that an increase in the effect of the technological risk factor in residential property development would affect the likelihood of achieving maximum profit. this outcome is in agreement with subramani et al. (2014), durdyev et al. (2017), asserted that inclement weather, the high cost of skilled labor and project managers, change orders, reworks and additional works could serve as indicators to cost overruns in the residential building projects. in contrary to this, dokata (2017) pointed out that fluctuation in the price of construction materials, the size of a project, the rate of human capital expenses and project cost were the main influencing factors likely to impact cost performance of a real estate projects. the difference might be because the scope of the study was limited to commercial buildings cost performance and the difference in the business environment. table 5: the effect of risk factors on returns(value for money) in residential property development b s.e. wald df sig. exp(b) social factor -.144 .523 .076 1 .782 .866 technological factor .264 .871 .092 1 .762 1.302 environmental factor -.651 .531 1.500 1 .221 .522 economic factor 1.026 .490 4.391 1 .036 2.790 political factor -.434 .331 1.722 1 .189 .648 constant -.691 2.443 .080 1 .777 .501 cox & snell rsquare= .187, nagelkerke r square=.258 table 2.3 provides information on the influence of risk factors on residential property development expected return at the significant value of 0.05. from the analysis, it was found that the variables in the equation explained between 18.7% and 25.8% of the variability in the dependent variable as suggested by (cox & snell rsquare= .187, nagelkerke r square=.258). furthermore, it is evident from the analysis that the economic risk factor is statistically significant to residential property development expected return. the significant value is .036 at the level of contribution of 1.026. it was revealed that the probability of the effect of economic risk factors on residential property development expected return is 1.833. the outcome of the result is in consonance with the studies by fereidouni and bazrafshan (2012), klimczak (2012), anule and umeh (2016) that changes in interest rate, selling price and volume rate of the same kind of properties in the local market, marketing strategy as related to housing projects returns might affect the real estate investors to take effective and rational investment decisions that constitute the total value of the projects. this implied that a decrease in the effect of economic factors would lead to a higher expected return that would be generated on the developed residential property. 5. conclusion the study investigated the respondent’s perception of residential property development in nigeria. from the outcome of the survey, significant prioritized risk factors that could influence the time, cost and the expected return of a residential project were identified. the data were analyzed using mean and logistic regression analysis of which are critical in knowing the most influencing risk factors in residential property investment appraisal. the findings revealed that technological risk factor such as accessibility and evacuation, condition of the site, designers and constructors, inclement weather, reworks/amendment among others are statistically o. t. ogunbayo / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 18-26 41 significant in assessing the cost performance whilst economic risk factor such as fluctuation in cost of building materials, demand and supply, cash flow liquidity, location among others are statistically significant in examining timely completion and value for money (return) of the residential property development which could cause variation between the actual and estimated outcomes. this implied that if consequences of risk factors are not adequately understood and managed or monitored it could affect the successful property development appraisal. hence, there is a need for the real estate investors both the local and international to develop risk factors assessment technique for practitioners and academia to assess the residential property development performance as related to timely completion, cost and returns elements to improve competence to manage and minimize the effect of risk factors on the residential investment appraisal. also, the study contributed to the empirical investigations related to the analysis of risk factors regarding the residential project success which will strengthen the existing theories. this study provided information into the phenomenon of how risks could impact the residential property development performance and could guide real estate developers to improve real estate investment decision making given the negative effects of project's time and cost overrun on investors profit expectation. however, the limitation to the findings of the study is that the analysis was conducted on residential property development and the respondents involved were only the registered property developers while others actors in the development industry were left out of the sample. therefore, the paper may serve as a guide on which further detailed 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(2014). causes of cost overrun in construction. iosr journal of engineering, 4(6), 1-7. tularam g.a. and attili g.s. 2012. importance of risk analysis and management – the case of australian real estate market. international journal of technology,16: 357-383. urban development institute of australia 2003. the development industry – nsw's engine room. developers digest, 3: 12-13. vincent, k.o. and joel, e.r. 1995. principles of total quality. kogan page, london windapo, a. and martin, o. 2010. an investigation into nigerian property construction companies’ perception of critical risk. insurance markets and companies: analyses and actuarial computations,1(1):78-82. jcbm (2017) 1(1). 8 13 determinants of building construction costs in south africa a. windapo1, s. odediran2, a. moghayedi3, a. adediran4, d. oliphant5 department of construction economics and management, university of cape town, south africa abstract completing project within cost is the target of most clients on any construction project. however, the achievement of this desire is just an imagination in the construction industry, because procurement and execution environments for projects are hostile and unpredictable. this study examines the determinants of building construction costs in south africa and whether changes in the cost of certain resource factors such as construction equipment, labour and materials can be related to changes in building construction costs. the study employs a longitudinal cross-sectional quantitative research design approach and makes use of literature review and historical data obtained from institutional and governmental databases to identify the determinants. the data collected were analysed using time series analysis to confirm the trends in the cost of the resource factors and its alignment to the changes in building construction cost. after that, it makes use of an appropriate predictive modelling tool or causal analysis in establishing the determinants of construction cost. the results show that the price indices of construction equipment (ei), labour (li) and materials (mi) have a gentler slope when compared with the building cost index (bci). it also emerged that later levels of the bci are significantly and positively related to ei. the findings infer that the key determinant of increase in building construction costs in south africa is equipment costs. contractors and public or private sector clients in south africa must utilize construction equipment optimally on projects, and these pieces of equipment should not be left idle on project sites or plant yards. appropriate provisions should be made of equipment utilization policies which allow the joint ownership of equipment by contractors to mitigate the problems of cost increases. there are widely unexamined assumptions as to what resource factors are responsible for the growth in building construction costs in south africa. also is the similar high risk and uncertainty affecting the south african construction industry as a result of these fluctuations. the results of the study extend the knowledge of the resource factors responsible for building construction costs increases. keywords: construction equipment; cost data; labour; materials; south africa. 1. introduction it is the desire of every client to achieve value for money on any construction project. this desire is often not met on most projects because of the unforeseen events and unpredictable factors influencing costs of projects at the planning and development stages. this study, therefore, examines factors that determine the cost of a construction project in south africa. it also investigates whether the change in the cost of construction resources influences the trends in building costs. the outcome of this study informs contractors and public and private clients of the 1 corresponding author. tel: +27 21 650 2049. e-mail address: abimbola.windapo@uct.ac.za 2 e-mail address: oddsun001@myuct.ac.za 3 e-mail address: mghali001@myuct.ac.za 4 e-mail address: addabd001@myuct.ac.za 5 e-mail address: david.oliphant@uct.ac.za likely level of increases in the cost of construction work, to predict future changes in the costs of construction projects. hence, the paper presents in section 1 an introduction, outline, and rationale of the study to readers. section 2 describes a critical review of the literature on the drivers of construction cost. chapter 3 discusses the method employed in collecting the data reported in the paper, while section 4 outlines the findings emanating from the data analyzed and the results were related to the existing knowledge on drivers of construction costs. section 5 presents the conclusions drawn from the results and highlights future research. university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:abimbola.windapo@uct.ac.za mailto:oddsun001@myuct.ac.za mailto:mghali001@myuct.ac.za mailto:addabd001@myuct.ac.za mailto:david.oliphant@uct.ac.za a. windapo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 8-13 9 2. identification and review of construction cost drivers construction costs are the portion of hard costs usually associated with the construction contract, including the cost of materials, the labour and equipment costs necessary to put those elements in place. overhead costs, which include both job site management and the contractors' standard cost of doing business are added to this. theoretical underpinning and constructs of the notable drivers of cost of construction work proposed in this research are aligned to the findings of previous studies by odediran and windapo (2014); american institute of architects (2013); olatunji (2010); skitmore et al. (2006); lowe et al. (2006); sawhney et al. (2004), ng et al. (2000); akintoye et al. (1998); fitzgerald and akintoye (1995); chau (1990); eastman (1986); and snyman (n.d). based on literature review (see tables 1 and 2), the drivers of construction costs are classified into – resource factors (labour, material and plant); project factors (competition intensity, profit margin, overhead cost, space available for construction, management skills provided, type of structure/design and construction methods used); macroeconomic factors (demand and supply of construction work, finance or loan cost, inflation, transportation costs, energy costs, exchange rates and fuel price); construction work items (excavation, concrete work, formwork, reinforcement work, mechanical, electrical and plumbing installation etc.); and stakeholder requirements (professional fees and transaction costs). table 1: resources factors based on previous studies resource factors relevant studies no. cited odediran & windapo (2014) skitmore et al. (2006) sawhney et al. (2004) eastham (1986) snyman (n.d.) labour ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 materials ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 equipment/plant ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 sub-contractors ✓ 1 table 2: project factors based on previous studies project factors relevant studies no. cited skitmore et al. (2006) sawhney et al. (2004) akintoye (2000) fitzgerald & akintoye (1995) eastham (1986) snyman (n.d.) contracting practices ✓ ✓ 2 location ✓ ✓ 2 size of project ✓ ✓ 2 contract/project duration ✓ ✓ 2 tender period ✓ ✓ 2 quality of market information ✓ ✓ 2 bargaining power of unions ✓ ✓ 2 variations in materials ✓ 1 labour productivity ✓ 1 equipment usage ✓ 1 weather ✓ 1 soil conditions ✓ 1 quality standards expected ✓ 1 anticipated use ✓ 1 overhead cost ✓ 1 degree of competition ✓ 1 method of construction ✓ 1 site constraints ✓ 1 the focus of this study will be of the contribution of resource factors to the cost of construction. resource elements are the inputs used in the production process to produce an output – the final building or infrastructure product in development. according to odediran and windapo (2014); skitmore et al. (2006); sawhney et al. (2004); eastham (1986); and snyman (n.d), resource factors contributing to the cost of construction work in no particular order, are cost of construction equipment, labour, building materials and specialist sub-contractors. building materials and materials will be used interchangeably in this paper. 3. research methodology 10 a. windapo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 8-13 there are significant numbers of earlier studies either on cost forecasting or prediction in south africa (bowen, 1993; snyman, 1989a; snyman, 1989b; bowen and edwards, 1985; and bowen, 1980). historical cost data are mostly used for the purpose of predicting the future levels of construction costs as they provide trends in prices and reliable information than macroeconomic variables (smith, 1995; tysoe, 1981). this study examines resource factors – construction equipment, labour and building materials that are established in the literature. the study determines the relationship between the cost of these resource factors and construction costs and adopts a longitudinal cross-sectional survey research design in data collection. a desk-top study that employs data collection methods involving data mining in achieving the research aim. the determinants of construction costs were established using historical information obtained from institutional and government databases (stats sa, bureau of economic research (ber)/medium-term forecasting associates (mfa) archives. the data/indices obtained were after that analyzed using descriptive tools to confirm the trends in the construction cost and after that, a predictive modelling tool or causal analysis to establish the determinants of building construction costs. ashuri and lu (2010) noted that the causal methods assume that the independent explanatory variables determine the variables to be predicted in the form of regression models. ruddock (2008) acknowledged that regression and correlation are usually considered together in expressing a relationship between two variables. simple or linear regression finds straight-line hypothesized relationships only, and mathematically represents this as equation (1): y = a + bx (1) where b = slope of the line of best fit (estimate/regression line) x = values of the independent variable (that is resource factors in this study) y = values of the (hypothesized) dependent variable (that is bci in this study) a = y-intercept/constant the building cost index (bci), which is a measure of the trends in the estimate of the cost required to complete a construction project, were used in the study as a measure of the growth in building construction cost. while the indexes of the resource factors – labour, material, and equipment, were used as a measure of the cost of the resource factors. the labour cost index (li) is a measure of the trends in the all-in-rate (payroll taxes and profits) of the skilled workers obtained from department of trade and industry (dti) records. the building material price index (mi) is a measure of the trend in changes in the prices of volatile construction materials. the indicator of building materials price trends used in this study is obtained from the published building materials production price index available in the stats sa archive. also, the plant cost index (ei) is used to measure the change in plant costs on a quarterly basis, is made up of construction equipment/plant hire rental (stats sa, 2010). according to dysert (2008), regression modelling is a mathematical representation of cost relationships that provide a logical and predictable correlation between the physical or functional characteristics of a project (plant and process system) and its resultant cost. the process of regression modelling, therefore, lends itself towards the course of finding the significance between independent variables that have direct effects on a dependent variable, a contextual environment, which is typified by the construction process. advantages of regression modelling for estimating purposes is the provision of efficiency regarding developing estimates in a shorter period. linking quantitative inputs to algorithms to provide quantitative outputs, often allows two estimators to come to the same conclusion regarding cost, and it is flexible as it allows a range of independent input variables that have been derived from historical data (black, 1984). 4. findings and discussion historical data collected from ber/mfa data and analyzed is presented and discussed in the following subsections. 4.1 trends in historical cost data for construction costs and resource factors the study sought to know descriptively, the trends in the historical cost data for construction costs and the resource factors (construction equipment, labour, and building materials) in south africa. the results of this inquiry are presented in figures 1 and table 3. table 3. distribution of building cost, labour, material and equipment indices by year (2010-2015) date building cost index (bci) normalized labour index (li) normalized material index (mi) normalized equipment index (ei) 2010q1 145,7 174,5 216,5 188,3 2010q2 144,8 176,4 218,3 187,9 2010q3 142,0 177,8 218,9 186,7 2010q4 142,4 178,6 219,9 186,7 2011q1 140,8 181,2 223,3 186,0 2011q2 149,2 184,5 225,5 187,9 2011q3 147,8 187,4 228,3 189,2 2011q4 156,7 189,4 230,5 187,9 2012q1 153,3 191,8 233,1 185,9 a. windapo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 8-13 11 2012q2 156,1 193,2 234,5 186,5 2012q3 161,4 194,1 235,5 187,4 2012q4 164,9 194,3 236,7 188,2 2013q1 171,0 197,3 239,5 189,8 2013q2 165,7 198,7 240,8 191,5 2013q3 173,3 200,3 242,9 194,9 2013q4 171,8 201,1 244,9 196,8 2014q1 179,2 203,3 247,1 198,7 2014q2 186,6 205,3 249,0 200,3 2014q3 191,2 206,8 249,9 200,8 2014q4 194,3 207,0 250,7 200,6 2015q1 198,2 207,7 250,5 202,2 2015q2 186,3 210,4 250,5 202,8 2015q3 196,2 212,0 250,9 203,6 2015q4 197,0 212,4 247,3 208,2 source: ber/mfa data (2016) table 1 and figure 1 compares the trends in building cost index (bci), construction equipment index (ei), labour index (li) and material index (mi). the result shows that the indices of equipment, labour, material have a gentler slope when compared with bci. mi has a wider differential when compared to bci. while the ei and li have smaller differentials when compared to bci, the growth rate of mi and li are proportional except for the growth rate of ei which is not uniform over the years. there was an overlap in the growth rate of li and ei in the year 2011 and 2012, meaning that the indices are to some extent unrelated. moreover, the bci, li, and ei grew proportionally showing that they have the same growth rates. figure 1: comparing the trends in material, labour, equipment indices and the bci 4.2 multiple regression between bci, li, mi and ei further investigation was undertaken to find out whether there is any significant relationship between bci (dependent variable) and li, mi and ei (independent variables) using multiple regression analysis. table 4 shows the results of the multiple regression analysis at 95% confidence level between bci, li, mi and ei4. table 4 demonstrates that: • the correlation between building cost index (dependent variable) and labour index, materials index and equipment index (independent variable) is very high (0.961556313) means 96% correlation – the combined changes in labour, materials, and equipment indices explains 96% of the changes in bci; • significance value of error is minuscule (2.56297e14) meaning that the error is not significant; and • at 95% confidence level the p value of the intercept is 1.85276e-07<0.05, labour cost is 0.855670171>0.05, materials cost is 0.08363076>0.05 and equipment cost is 0.000101165<0.05. the p values of the intercepts mean that the constant values of the intercept and equipment cost are significant, but labour cost and materials cost are not significant. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 degree 2: ber building cost index normalized index of material normalized index of labour normalized index of equipment 12 a. windapo et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 8-13 • the relationship between bci and the resource factors can be modeled as bci = -298,06 + 1,25*ei. table 4. multiple regression between building cost index, labour index, material index and equipment index (95%) regression statistics multiple r 0,98 r square 0,96 adjusted r square 0,96 standard error 4,17 observations 24 anova df ss ms f significance f regression 3 8689,86 2896,62 166,75 2,56297e-14 residual 20 347,43 17,37 total 23 9037,29 coefficients standard error t-stat p-value lower 95% upper 95% lower 95.0% upper 95.0% intercept -298,06 38,40 -7,76 1,85276e-07 -378,17 -217,96 -378,17 -217,96 labour 0,10 0,52 0,18 0,855670171 -0,99 1,18 -0,99 1,18 material 0,87 0,48 1,82 0,083630760 -0,13 1,86 -0,13 1,86 equipment 1,25 0,26 4,83 0,000101165 0,71 1,78 0,71 1,78 based on these findings, it can be inferred that a unit increase in the price of equipment will lead to 25% increase in the cost of building construction. however, there was no significant relationship between building construction cost and the cost of materials and labour. 5 conclusions and further research the primary objective of any pricing regime should be to ensure that there is an efficient allocation of resources and an understanding of the indicators and drivers that will aid decision making, in managing cost related to the construction sector. this study examines the determinants of building construction costs in south africa and whether changes in the cost of certain resource factors such as construction equipment, labour and materials can be related to changes in building construction costs. overall, the research observed that although there is a gradual increase in construction cost, this is not increasing proportionally with inflation and that there is a significant positive relationship between construction costs and equipment costs when historical cost data are analyzed. it also emerged that a unit increase in the price of construction equipment will yield 25% increase in building construction cost. based on these findings, it can the study concludes that equipment use is a major determinant of building construction costs in south africa and that increases in equipment costs will yield proportionally significant increases in construction costs. based on these findings, the study recommends that contractors and public or private sector clients in south africa must utilize construction equipment optimally on projects, and these pieces of equipment should not be left idle on project sites or plant yards. appropriate provisions and policies should be made to allow the joint ownership of equipment by contractors to mitigate the problems of cost increases. the study also proposes that further research is undertaken using actual construction projects 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(1981). construction cost and price indices: description and use, e & f.n., spon, london. http://www.statssa.gov.za/keyindicators/keyindicators.asp jcbm (2017) 1(1). 1 7 a qualitative study of health and safety (h&s) construction practices in lagos p. o. kukoyi1 and j. j smallwood2 department of construction management, nelson mandela metropolitan university, south africa 1,2 received 8 november 2016; received in revised form 8 december 2016; accepted 17 december 2016 abstract projects in the construction sector are reputed for poor h&s records when compared to other similar industries. this can be attributed among other things to an uncontrolled working environment, risk, workers' behaviour in relation to h&s commitment, cultural and religious beliefs, and uncertainties inherent in projects. risk and hazards arising due to poor h&s practices result in injuries and fatalities in few cases. the aim of this study is to explore the perceptions of workers regarding h&s on construction sites. a combination of interviews and observations was conducted in the study. the participants in the study are mainly production workers (ironworkers, masons, carpenters, roofers, and electricians) engaged in construction projects. the findings of the study reveal that workers view productive activities on construction sites as hazardous and risky. however, lack of understanding the use of ppe affects its use. this perception may also be attributed to inadequate training, socio-economic realities, cultural and religious beliefs. therefore, there is a need for a localised h&s certification and awareness programmes to foster a commitment to improving h&s at construction sites. further research is required to understand the influence of stakeholders on h&s practices in the nigerian construction industry. keywords: health and safety; nigeria; perceptions; workers. 1. introduction the construction sector is viewed as an accident-prone industry. studies on h&s in the field of construction management reiterate the poor h&s performance on construction sites as a global phenomenon (zhou et al., 2013). it has been established that poor h&s practices among workers significantly contributes to the poor h&s performance reported in construction-related studies (haslam et al., 2005; choudhry and fang, 2008). also, complexities experienced in the industry due to changing technology, construction methods, clients’ demands, construction materials and the changing environment have made hazards and risk controls difficult (odeyinka et al., 2006). it is evident that some factors are principally responsible for poor h&s performance at construction sites. however, it is evident that workers’ practices are within the control of the contractor whom may not be able to influence the other identified factors. hence, improving workers, h&s practices could result in reduced accidents at construction sites. 1 corresponding author. tel: +27 784 3935241. e-mail address: s215061608@nmmu.ac.za 2 e-mail address: john.smallwood@nmmu.ac.za the statistics emerging from the construction industry highlights the need for a paradigm shift in the h&s performance of projects. according to the international labour organisation (ilo, 2005), an estimated 2.3 million people die every year from work-related accidents and diseases, and there are 313 million non-fatal accidents per year. furthermore, 30% of workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders and more than 20%-40% of work-related deaths occur on construction sites in industrialised countries. it was reported that 31% of all occupational-related deaths in 2002/03 occurred in the construction industry (haslam et al., 2005). chi and han (2013) also state that on every work day, more than three workers do not return home due to fatalities experienced on construction sites in the united states of america (usa). similarly, the construction industry development board in 2008 records that south africa had fatalities and accident rates of 19.2 and 14 626 per 100,000 workers respectively. this is said to be lower than that of subsaharan countries estimated at 21 and 16 021 per 100 000 workers respectively (cidb, 2008). cokeham and university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:s215061608@nmmu.ac.za mailto:john.smallwood@nmmu.ac.za 2 p. o. kukoyi and j. j. smallwood / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 1-7 tutesigensi (2013) note the high accident rate in rwanda and the increase in other sub-saharan countries. hence, the statistics suggest that poor h&s performance is a global problem. poor h&s record can give rise to poor project performance which is commonly observed in the construction sector. it has been reported that accidents lead to increase in operation cost of projects (hinze, 1997; willkins, 2011). these could be due to poor productivity, the cost of medical care for victims, loss of person hours, absenteeism, and an adverse impact on the image of the organisation. the need to improve h&s at construction sites has been a subject of several years of research (koehn et al., 1995). it should be noted that it has been reiterated that high rates of injuries and death of workers can be linked to workers' non-compliance with h&s procedures, inadequate training, and insufficient knowledge of h&s practices (willkins, 2011). thus, this necessitates the need for a study to understand how workers view h&s in the construction environment. as highlighted in the opening paragraph, arguments and evidence indicate that the construction industry has a poor h&s record. despite the fact that nigeria is a member of the ilo, h&s provisions and conventions are not properly implemented (umeokafor et al., 2014). in a similar vein, idoro (2008) asserts that there are no policies prescribed for h&s in the nigerian construction industry. therefore, contractors and employees are left to use their discretion. as suggested by khosravi et al. (2014), construction workers executing the task in an unhealthy and unsafe environment could give rise to poor productivity. furthermore, it is known that research provides a body of knowledge that guides a discipline. a review of past published and unpublished studies in construction management-related disciplines in nigeria and the west-african region reveal that h&s related research has been limited (laryea & leiringer, 2012; ejohwomu and oshodi, 2014), except for few studies (such as windapo and jegede, 2013). hence, construction workers executing the task in unhealthy and unsafe environment could give rise to poor productivity. the reported study assessed the perception of workers' on h&s in the nigerian construction industry using a qualitative approach. the present study offers some valuable insights into the h&s issues on construction sites in nigeria. 2. improving h&s performance in the construction industry implementing h&s ‘best’ practices on construction sites can be challenging. there are several possible explanations for these challenges; such as migration of workers, method of worker employment, work standards, different backgrounds and experience (mohamed et al., 2009). also, adoption of ‘best’ h&s practices attracts little attention from the construction sector. this is because stakeholders are largely profit-driven and give h&s little considerations (priyadarshani et al., 2013; windapo, 2013). to address poor h&s performance in the construction industry, it is important to understand its meaning. research into h&s in construction-related disciplines has a long history. agumba, pretorius & haupt (2013) define h&s management as "tangible practices, responsibilities, and performance related to h&s, including the association between h&s management, climate, and culture." smallwood (1995) maintains that management commitment to h&s is reflected in the organisation's values, policy, goals, programme development, resource allocation, behaviour modelling, and injury analysis. however, h&s management techniques should be tailored to meet the unique needs of the worker. agumba, pretorius & haupt (2013) further categorise h&s practices into five basic elements, namely top management commitment and involvement in h&s, employee involvement and empowerment in h&s, project supervision, project h&s planning, communication in h&s and h&s resources, and training. the study reveals the importance of employee involvement and empowerment in h&s on a construction site. it was recommended that workers should be engaged at the project level to improve h&s performance on construction sites. researchers such as cheng et al. (2004), cheng et al. (2012), and ismail et al. (2012) opine that limiting human errors will reduce accidents, which can only be achieved by employing h&s management best practices on site. when the system is driven positively to reduce hazards and risks, workers will adopt good behaviours to foster positive commitment to h&s. thus, understanding how workers perceive h&s may lead to valuable insights that can be determined to improve on-site construction h&s. windapo and jegede (2013) are of the opinion that fatalities, injuries, and deaths are mainly caused by unsafe and unhealthy practices of contractors and workers. contractors prefer to spend less on ppe, employ less experienced workers for cheap labour and care only for the profits to be made. similarly, from a qualitative survey, khosravi et al. (2014) identified eight main categories of factors that influence workers' unsafe and unhealthy behaviours on construction sites. these factors include society, organisation, project management, supervision, contractor, site conditions, work group, and individual characteristics. workers' perceptions of risk, h&s management, h&s regulations, and procedures have been linked to their attitude towards h&s on construction sites (mohamed et al., 2009). the study mentioned above reveals that workers have a self-rated competence and their behaviour relates to their h&s responsibilities. 3. research methodology the investigation reported here is part of an on-going study targeted at understanding and suggesting improvements to construction workers’ h&s practices in lagos, nigeria. interview and participant observation are the data collection methods adopted in this study. a significant advantage of the qualitative data collection methods is that it provides deep insights into the study’s problem (levy & henry, 2001; creswell, 2012). literature shows that there is a general preference for quantitative research method in construction management studies focused on nigeria (see ejohwomu and oshodi, 2014). hence, the use of qualitative method in this study p. o. kukoyi and j. j. smallwood / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 1-7 3 gives an alternative perspective towards the h&s problems at construction sites. the primary sources for the semi-interview questions included a literature review on h&s (gillen et al., 2004). the questions enabled the workers to discuss the following topics: h&s training, risk awareness, use of ppe, and employee and management interactions as regards h&s; and probes for some of the questions were also developed. the data provides actual words of the respondents. the findings of baradan and usmen (2006) determine that roofers, iron workers, electricians, painters, and masons were more at h&s risk and ranked highest in fatalities when compared to other work trades in the construction industry. based on this finding, a worker from each of the trades was selected and interviewed. the small size of respondents (interviewees) was to allow for an in-depth discussion and for the workers to adequately express their ideas without restrictions. the questions were structured to allow the respondents to discuss their general impression of h&s on site, work environment, and how work is conducted in a healthy and safe manner. observations were carried out during project activities as interviewees granted access to site. all ethical issues were addressed such as formally requesting to visit and interview the respondents, explaining the purpose of the research, and asking for the workers' consent based on a voluntary decision to be interviewed. the contracting firms selected for this study are registered with the nigerian institute of building (niob). there are 191 construction companies registered with the niob. ninety-two (92) of these firms are based in lagos. the selected companies were those undertaking projects at the time of the research. further questions were asked to prompt discussions in relevant areas during the interview. the interviews were recorded (with permission of interviewees) and were conducted in both english and local languages. the transcripts of the study were translated into english (for those interviews carried out in local languages) and then transcribed. the interview sessions were conducted during the lunch breaks and after-work hours. this was because two of the workers surveyed, preferred to be interviewed after work. their ages, educational status, and years of experience were noted. 3.1 participants of the study 3.1.1 interviewees’ characteristics the respondents (table 1) were all male adults between the ages of 30-49, and they all had more than eight years' work experience, which indicates adequate work experience to provide responses that reflect actual practices on construction sites. the interviewees have been engaged in several projects ranging from engineering works (dam, road, and bridge construction) and building structures (residential and commercial buildings). this reveals that the interviewees' had varied work experiences on different construction sites. this will enhance the quality of the responses on h&s. of the five respondents, only one had a trade school certificate. the other four were primary and secondary school leavers; they all learned their trade through informal training, i.e. working as an apprentice until they were set to work on their own. table 1: characteristics of the interviewees interview code trade gender age highest qualification years of experience r1 roofer male adult primary education 10 r2 ironworker male adult secondary education 16 r3 electrician male adult trade school certificate 13 r4 painter male adult secondary education 9 r5 mason male adult primary education 9 4. findings and discussion this study explored the perception of workers regarding h&s practices on construction site. thematic analysis of interview was used to analyse the qualitative data. first, the qualitative research result will be presented followed by the observations. we asked the interviewees to reflect on the training received, use of ppe, hazards, and risks. three broad themes emerged from the analysis: h&s training, perception of risk, and management commitment/workers' involvement to h&s. other h&s issues were raised during the discussion. the issues were categorised as workers union and clients commitment to h&s. 4.1 h&s training interviewees indicated that h&s training is not conducted on construction sites as suggested by r5: “there is nothing like h&s meetings or training since i started working with this contractor” and r4: “i do not know anything about h&s training.” they have not attended any h&s training. therefore, the workers regarded h&s training as unnecessary to their work. they are of the opinion that, h&s officers are not available on site, h&s meetings were not conducted, and communication was through the supervisors and foremen. r1: “the management does not involve us in any meeting so that we can talk; they mostly talk with our foremen. the foremen will now pass the information down to us.” as regards to the use of ppe, the interviewees indicated that they were familiar with some ppe such as goggles, ear plugs, hand gloves, helmet (hard hat), boots, 4 p. o. kukoyi and j. j. smallwood / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 1-7 reflective jackets, and overalls. however, the use of ppe was not regarded as important or necessary. interviewees expressed their opinions r3: "some of the ppe were not durable; they were of low quality and these contractors buy them to reduce cost," and r2: “they give me hard helmet and boots, only a pair.” this indicates that management does not commit adequate resources to h&s and do not care about the h&s of their workers. also, workers do not understand the need to wear h&s equipment due to various reasons as indicated by some of the interviewees; r4: “ppe in this hot weather! the weather is too hot to wear them; it makes me very uncomfortable, i will be sweating.” r5: "it is only when the client and other professionals are coming to site for inspection that my manager will bring them out and insist we wear helmets, boots, and overalls." r1: “the helmet and overall are not necessary. i like using the hand gloves. i do not think i really need it for my job.” however, others indicated that some managers they have worked with insisted they use ppe as reported by r3: “i have worked on sites where the managers will insist we use our ppe.” 4.2 workers’ perceptions of risks the workers were further asked if they were aware of the degree of risk and hazards related to their work and how accidents are reported on site. some of the workers affirmed that working on construction sites involves risk. however, they have worked long enough on the job to avoid accidents; they know the “tricks on the job.” interviewee r1 views risk in this way: "every job has a risk if no risk then no money. it is not easy to climb on a roof and work; the higher it is, the more the money. i have been doing this job, and i am still alive; i think when you are afraid that is when you fall." they believed they are safe. others believed they are at risk only when their supervisors or managers insist on a construction method which they are not familiar with, and they try not to get afraid. r5: "my boss tells me to do some work, and i do the work the best way i can. i feel safe. i am a man i cannot be afraid of my work. i like my work". r2 and r4 have similar views: "for me, when something wants to happen it does happen, and you cannot stop it. it is just god or our forefathers that are keeping us safe because we have to provide for our families." we just have to do the job"; "i just pray to god to help me do my work well and not to get injured." accidents, according to one of the interviewees: "happen every day, you just have to be careful. sometimes you may be lucky, and other days you are not, and if you get injured often you may not be employed again" and that "reporting accidents depends on the seriousness of the accident. managers handle serious cases, and accidents are investigated with help from the foremen or supervisors. when an accident leads to death, the families are compensated, but i do not know if the police are involved.” 4.3 management commitment to h&s / employee involvement in h&s although the interviewees did not attest to any onsite h&s policies, regulation or rules, respondents perceived that some managers were committed to their wellbeing while others were not. according to r3, “most of the sites i have worked, have different types of managers and with different work behaviour. some will make your work easy because they want good work done” and “others will make you work and work making you accomplish some impossible workload as a day’s job because they want to save money.” management commitment to the workers’ wellbeing was perceived by the interviewees as not sufficient. they are of the opinion that h&s is not relevant on most sites according to r2: “where i worked, they don’t say anything about h&s.” however, r3 is of the opinion that “we were taught how to keep our environment clean after work so that your work will be neat and also the site.” getting involved with h&s on site depends on the management. however, due to workers’ level of education, most workers prefer not to get involved with management r1: “we are not as educated as they are so we just work.” the workers prefer to do their work and get paid their wage. furthermore, management does not show empathy and respect for the workers as indicated by an interviewee. r1 is of the opinion that management is more concerned about work rather than their h&s practice; r5: “but some managers do not see us workers as human beings. i am saying this because the man (i.e. the contractor’s representative) was more concerned about the work being done right rather than about us.” r3: "managers, engineers, and supervisors talk to us with disrespect. this often occurs especially when the work is delayed." all the interviewees gave accounts revealing that the management of contracting firms was not committed to implementing h&s during the construction phase. responses from interviewees above identified managers who expected workers to carry out tasks that cannot be accomplished within the time frame allotted to the task. their concern as stated above implies management's poor h&s commitment on construction sites. hence, workers' do not view h&s as a priority on project sites. 4.4 other concerns: a standard view mentioned among interviewees are categorised below: 4.4.1 workers’ trade union interviewee r2 and r5 are members of trade unions. this gives them welfare benefits. they can easily access loans and receive help in the case of any labour dispute. however, their responses were similar stating that contractors do not allow active participation in union activities in their organisations. this implies that the union has an influence on the members. this was made clear by the following statements: "i am a union member because when i need help, they will help me. we make monthly contributions as members, and we get information about work easily." "i was a union member when i was in permanent employment with a big company as a union member; we fight for our wage increase or when they don't treat us well." "when i get employed for work on any site, i do not tell them i am a union member p. o. kukoyi and j. j. smallwood / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 1-7 5 because you may not get the job; they say as union members we fight always." 4.4.2. clients’ commitment to h&s the interviewee raised a point relating to stakeholders on site and h&s. the interviewee reported that "when we work in big projects our supervisor talks with us and gives us things like boots, and helmet, but for small projects, it is rarely provided.” “i have worked where the bosses (professionals and the clients) visit the site to see the work and have meetings; the sites are always big projects.” “in this kind of work we use ppe and work well.” interviewees further agreed that in such large projects, the clients’ visit the sites for inspections and emphasis are laid on h&s practices such as cleanliness, proper scaffold use, smoke-free on construction site and use of ppe. from the analysis of qualitative data, it is evident that clients have an influence on h&s practice and the magnitude of projects may also be an influence on h&s on construction sites. hence, large construction firms may have better policies towards h&s practices than small companies. this assertion is similar to that of farooqui et al. (2008). lack of management commitment to h&s, the lack of respect towards workers, and h&s influence of clients (stakeholders) have a negative effect in the nigerian construction industry. these have affected the effective management of h&s within the nigerian construction industry. hence, the poor h&s practices on construction sites. also, stakeholders are not involved in h&s which may be a major contributing factor to inadequate policy formation and implementation especially with respect to h&s practice in the construction industry in developing countries. 4.5. observations on workers’ h&s practice during site activities everyday on-site activities are recognised as vital contributors to on-site h&s practices. examples include provision of welfare facilities such as first aid, restrooms, baths, changing rooms, and food canteens; general housekeeping; material handling; plant and equipment handling; and use of ppes by workers. figure 1: workers at work on construction site (kukoyi and smallwood, 2016) figure 2: workers at work on construction site (kukoyi and smallwood, 2016) figure 3: workers at work on construction site (kukoyi and smallwood, 2016) figure 4: workers at work on construction site (kukoyi and smallwood, 2016) the pictures (see figure 1 to 4) above are representations of observations conducted during site activities. the pictures show the state of h&s practice on the construction sites visited. some issues were identified; figures 1 and 2 indicates the poor use of ppe, none of the workers were adequately dressed for the activity. plant, equipment, and materials were not properly handled. figures 3 and 4 shows the inappropriate use of scaffolds, poor housekeeping, and inadequate material handling on site. poor practices of the workers during construction operations suggest the level of management h&s, level of h&s awareness and h&s perception of workers. however, restrooms, changing rooms, and food canteens were provided for the workers. the findings of this study reveal that workers are aware of the risks and hazards associated with work. this 6 p. o. kukoyi and j. j. smallwood / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 1-7 is different from the findings of ulubeyli et al. (2014) which suggest that workers are not aware of the risks or hazards on construction sites. however, this study suggests that the workers were more interested in monetary gains than concern for the risks they were exposed to, and relate accidents to lack of precautionary methods when at work. this is probably confirmed with the workers' poor use of ppe during construction activities as shown in the results. however, this may be attributable to the low socio-economic characteristics of the workers, and unfair labour practices. furthermore, risks and hazards, associated with the workers’ trades on construction sites, are also viewed within the context of workers’ religious beliefs. this result is in agreement with smallwood’s (2002) findings, which demonstrate the link between h&s and religion. also, the activities of workers’ unions are limited on construction sites. the unions are not adequately represented on construction sites in nigeria. furthermore, if trade unions are fully established, this could serve as a platform to promote h&s on construction sites and engender stakeholders’ commitment and workers’ involvement in h&s. this is buttressed by the findings of various studies regarding how unions and union workers have contributed to improving h&s on construction sites in various countries (see debobeeleer, 1990: ulubeyli et al., 2014). lastly, the results of the study also raised related questions regarding the available h&s training for workers on construction sites. workers lack formal h&s training; an indication that h&s is not a priority to stakeholders and the workers. hence, poor h&s practices on construction site. the need for adequate codes of conduct, policy formulation, and implementation in the construction industry in nigeria is vital. 5 conclusions and further research the work environment in the construction industry is unsafe. this suggests the need to adopt h&s practices so as to improve h&s performance of construction projects. this paper explored the perceptions of workers on h&s practices on construction sites. the study adopted a qualitative research approach. this method enabled an understanding of the h&s perception of workers in the nigerian construction industry. the findings of the study reveal that workers view construction activities as hazardous to them, and are more interested in the monetary gains. they have little or no knowledge of what h&s in construction is about due to a lack of h&s training. workers view that the number of years spent in a trade determines the level of risk they are being exposed to, and how to manage it. also, religion is a determining factor of how risk is perceived and managed. therefore, the workers expose themselves to avoidable risks. in summary, their perceptions could be linked to stakeholders’ inadequacies in promoting h&s practices, socio-economic realities, cultural beliefs, and inadequate training. this research has established the importance and the need to train workers in the nigerian construction industry. the government and other stakeholders should develop strategies and policies that will foster commitment to h&s on construction sites. given the sample for the present study, is not a representative of the total number of workforce, it should be seen as a limitation to the study, and therefore cannot be generalised. however, the findings provide insight to stakeholders in the industry as regards h&s. further research is needed to understand the h&s influence stakeholders have in promoting h&s and training needs of workers in the nigerian construction industry. construction managers could plan h&s strategies with supervisors to systematically analyse work risks and hazards. this will enable management to improve the h&s climate on projects and to develop an h&s culture among workers through adequate policy formulation and implementation. references agumba, j., pretorius, j., & haupt, t. 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(2013). applying advanced technology to improve safety management in the construction industry: a literature review. construction management and economics, 32(6), 606622. jcbm (2019) 3(1). 38-44 influence of the management styles and quality of management on project delivery a. o. aiyetan1 1.department of construction management and quantity surveying, durban university. of technology, south africa received 9 november 2016; received in revised form 19 april 2017, 6 september 2018; accepted 2 october 2018. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.65 abstract construction projects differ in features and complexity to each passing decade. therefore, control is a fundamental requirement to avoid overruns of key performance parameters. the study aims to identify influencing factors of management practices and quality of management during construction on project delivery time to mitigate their impact. the inferential statistic was used in the analysis of data for the study. the sample population consists of architects; builders; quantity surveyors; structural engineers, and clients, totalling eighty-eight (88). the metropolitan cities of five provinces constituted the geographical delimitation of the study. the provinces are eastern cape; free state; gauteng; kwazulu-natal, and western cape, while the metropolitan cities are bloemfontein; cape town; durban; johannesburg, and port elizabeth. the probability sampling method was employed in the selection of architects, south african property owner's, and masters builders. while stratified sampling was used for quantity surveyors. a questionnaire survey was conducted among these stakeholders in the building construction industry to access influencing factors of management style and quality of management during construction. finding relative to management style include that set time limits, specify goals people are to accomplish and require regular reporting on progress and for quality of management during construction are effectively coordinating resources, developing an appropriate organizational structure to maintain workflow influences project delivery time in most cases these tradesmen require supervision construction, which results in delay and attending, may drastically reduce delay on projects. based on the finding of the study, ways to mitigate poor management style and quality of management during construction were suggested. keywords: construction, delivery time, management style, quality. 1. introduction construction involves a lot of tasks, which are executed by tradesmen. in most cases, these tradesmen require supervision to deliver the work according to specification and quality. the extent of management of these tradesmen concerning the level of control given and management style will determine the quality of product and productivity level. management style dictates the quality of the product, as happy workers engender commitment to work, leading to high productivity and quality. it is in the interest of the contractor to keep workers happy; else the contrary has an adverse effect on the delivery of the project, such as delay. gonzalez et al. (2016) state that delays can lengthen schedules, increase project costs, and jeopardise quality and safety. generally, workers do not want to be coarse to work. there is a need to balance supervision with the management style being 1 corresponding author. email address: ayodejia@dut.ac.za adopted to achieve the optimum level of production and quality. accidents on sites are common occurrences (yilmaz, 2015). planning against their occurrence is important. the consequences of accidents are adverse relative to project delivery, final cost figure, the company's image and competitive advantage, and the client's finances are always affected. on the part of the industry, the public impression is that of a hazardous industry, which leads to low entrants into the industry at all levels, with the most effect on skilled labour, resulting in shortages. the objectives of this paper are to assess the influence of management styles and qualities on project delivery time in south africa. first, a literature review of relevant concepts is presented in section 2. section 3 presents the research methodology for the study. this is followed by the presentation of results and discussion of findings in section 4. the paper ends by identifying further research university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.65 mailto:ayodejia@dut.ac.za a. o. aiyetan / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 38-44 39 areas and drawing conclusions on the findings of the study. 2. literature review 2.1 project delivery time and project duration it is intended for every project to start, finish and use for its intended purpose and afterwards it is demolished. project delivery time is the time it takes from commencement to the handing over of key or the project to the client (darwish, 2017). project duration is the initial completion time agreed to while awarding the contract for the project, stemming from the master schedule of works submitted by the contractor (acebes et al., 2015). project delivery time is different from project duration in that project delivery time encompasses the time for mobilisation of the project team and resources, project duration, and defect liability period (atkinson, 1999; darwish, 2017). according to acebes et al. (2015), project duration is critical to project delivery time because any increase in the project duration will lead to an increase in the project delivery time. 2.2 management style management style deals with the personal attributes possessed by the manager in managing an organisation along with the leadership style. managers operate within an organisation and manage the functions of an organisation. these attributes possessed by managers that enable them to succeed are called competency. rees and porter (2001) define competence as the skills or knowledge possessed by individuals that allows them to manage an organisation successfully. smallwood (2006:3) states that competencies can be divided into two categories: threshold or surface, which are required to be minimally effective and differentiating or core, a yardstick for superior performers. these are the competitiveness factor (orozco et al., 2011). the threshold or surface competencies are knowledge – information regarding content, and skills – the ability to perform a task. according to singh (2004), competences predict performance. goals need to be defined before actions are taken and performance measured. there are three types of goals, organisation-wide goals – these include objectives about future directions for large segments of the organisation population; task-oriented goals – which are specific objectives assigned to an individual or small group of individuals; and personal goals or level of aspirations – these are goals set by the individuals themselves. fryer (2004) points out that lots of leadership studies have taken account of the leader's competence or ability, either in the limited sense of technical knowledge or the broader understanding of competence to lead. for effective and efficient management of human resources, both the technical ability and competence to lead must be employed and could be referred to as management practice. the technical ability concerns laying down construction methods and drawing up of the schedule of works. the competence to lead refers to the motivation and support given to workers. griffith and watson (2004) identify three leadership styles. autocratic leaders give orders which they insist shall be obeyed; determine policies for the group without consulting it; provide no detailed information about future plans but merely tell the group what immediate step it must take; give personal praise or criticism to each member on their own initiative and remain aloof from the group for the greater part of the time; democratic leaders give orders only after consulting the group; see to it that policies are worked out with the acceptance of the group (this is critical for effective implementation); never ask people to do things without sketching out the long-term plans on which they are to work; make it clear that praise or blame is a matter for the group and participate in the group as a member, and laissez-faire leaders do not lead, but leave the group entirely to itself and do not participate. 2.3 management styles of construction managers according to burke and barron (2007), management styles refer to the characteristics, attributes, and skills of construction managers. although management and leadership are unique systems of action, they are also complimentary. the management styles of construction managers are reinforced and balanced with leadership styles to successfully operate in the complex project environment (toor and ofori, 2008). these management styles are identified and summarised in the following subsections. pheng and chuan (2005) state that the definition of goals affects project performance positively. the overall goal of an activity must be set out for each. this will be the driving force for day-to-day achievement and overall accomplishment of the goal. goal-setting can inspire and motivate subordinates, especially if their performance is linked to remuneration. it also provides an effective means of evaluation and control (du toit et al., 2007). additionally, when staff participate in the decisionmaking process of the organisation, it creates a sense of belonging which leads to individuals paying greater attention to their jobs. these create an environment conducive for work, resulting in high productivity. one of the factors influencing performance in construction projects is the sequencing of work and the allocation of crew sizes. rojas and aramvareel (2003) are of the opinion that out-of-sequence scheduling of work may result in a loss of momentum (rhythm). walker and shen (2002) suggest that contractor-related factors such as poor site management and supervision are significant causes of delays in project delivery. lack of organisation creates a situation of confusion and chaos, a situation in which no meaningful progress can be made. a site that is well laid out, in which offices, storage, and workspaces are well defined, aids the smooth flow of work. for the achievement of targeted production, time limits should be set for each task to be carried out. a bricklayer has a certain number of bricks to lay per day, depending on the type of brick. a fitter has a certain amount of tonnes/kilograms of steel to bend or cut for a day's wage, and this applies to all trades. based on this analogy, timelines are set for the achievement of each activity to avoid delay as clear time-lines promote more efficient and goal-driven work. managers or site engineers provide specific guidance on what must be done and how it must be done. bassioni 40 a. o. aiyetan / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).38-44 et al. (2005) acknowledge that one factor that enhances performance is the development of the organisation's mission, vision and values by a leader and communication of these attributes to the workforce. pheng and chuan (2005) conclude that thirteen factors negatively affect project performance, among which is, the non-availability of information. when this is lacking errors may occur, which may lead to poor workmanship and repetition of work. when these situations arise, the project suffers delays. edum-fotwe and mccaffer (2000) identify management skills such as time management and leadership as having a positive effect on construction project delivery. chan et al. (2004) argue that a project leader's commitment to time affects the delivery of a construction project. a work schedule is a tool that is used to monitor the progress of work. to avoid delays in project delivery, the performance of the project should be evaluated regularly on this through work schedule. this helps in identifying areas of poor performance so that the reasons for this lag in management of an organisation should not only be concerned about work performance but also staff welfare. management should not turn a blind eye to staff challenges. there should be a means for the personal challenges of workers to be made known to management. the labourers and skilled labour are those who perform construction activities with guidance from management staff; therefore their health is crucial to the speedy completion of a project. all the factors discussed above are those that create job satisfaction and boost productivity. 2.4 quality of management during construction many factors affect quality, which impedes on the construction speed of a contractor. aiyetan (2011) gives a listing while ponpeng and liston (2003) conclude that the factors outlined in the following sub-sections are criteria that determine contractor’s ability to deliver a project with regards to acceptable quality standards. scheduling of activities using the gantt chart is an aid for an operative, smooth flow and monitoring of works during the construction stage. arditi and mohammadi (2002) state that timeliness is the completion of the contract as planned, and with high accuracy. that is, the ability to execute the work regarding the correct specification and quality are good indicators of a contractor's expertise. the key parameters of delivering a project are quality, time, and cost. therefore, it is important to analyse the various construction methods as against the volume and complexity of work. this is done, in order, to select the best delivery solution for the project. while bearing in mind the key performance parameters in doing this. belout and gauvreau (2003) and proverb and holt (2000:2) also share this view one of the factors that may contribute to project delay is access to and from the site. a bad road surface to the site will cause vehicles to break down and result in late delivery. materials need to be moved from one point to another on site. for example, from production point to place of incorporation on the project. difficulty in the movement of materials will lead to late supply and ultimately result in delayed delivery of the project. this is further buttressed by koushki and kartam (2004) declaring that late delivery and damaged materials to site cause project delays. besides, pertula et al. (2003:10) report that a total of 2 945 disability days were experienced on a project over a period of eighteen months, which is traceable to accidents resulting from materials handling on site. this refers to the chronology of work execution. the planning of activities as they should flow to avoid stoppages. the identification of the critical path contributes immensely to achieving work sequencing and maintenance of workflow. fox et al. (2003) state that construction processes should be assessed before implementation. the continual updating of the schedule and planning afford the opportunity of keeping the project on track. lee et al. (2004) cite lantelme and formoso (2000) who declare that measurement-managed companies have proven better performance compared to their nonmeasurement counterparts. pongpeng and liston (2002) identify criteria for contractors’ ability to perform with regards to a project, that monitoring is one out of five most important factors. a project will take a longer time to complete compared with the initially planned time if activities are repeated (hardie, 2001). the causes of these problems are the poor quality of workmanship and poor quality of material usage. the ability to quickly resolve and recover from these problems on a project is a good quality relative to the project manager. dainty et al. (2004) specify qualities for successful project completion that a project must possess, which include analytical thinking power, information seeking and initiative. these will enhance problem-solving on site. scott-young and samson (2007) postulate that there is a direct and positive relationship between effective team problem–solving and project outcomes. the effective layout of a site is very important and afford minimum travel time and movement of materials, plant and labour (tam et al., 2002). different authors have varying views concerning the coordination skills of a project manager. chan et al. (2004) note that it affects the construction of the project. kazaz and ulubeyli (2003) declare that the assignment of resources determines the overall duration and cost of the project. therefore, to overcome this, there must be a good inventory system in place. material movement schedule should be developed to monitor levels of materials at any time, to ensure a continuous flow of activities. also, jha and iyer (2005) affirm that coordination among project participants and resources positively influence project delivery. bassioni et al. (2005) are of the view that the involvement of leaders in ensuring that management systems are developed for operations is a significant performance factor for success. for operations to flow smoothly and ensure its successful delivery, there should be a good system in place concerning command and information dissemination. activities are executed based on information given and relative to the next operation, the quantity of materials and work crew supply. therefore, an organogram concerning hierarchy in an organisation is needful and will assist in this regard. a. o. aiyetan / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 38-44 41 3. research methodology a study titled influence of management style and quality during construction was conducted at the nelson mandela metropolitan university, port elizabeth in south africa, to identify and assess factors influencing the delivery of project concerning these factors. the study focussed on project duration. the research methodology consists of five parts; an in-depth review of related literature; the research design; findings and discussion; conclusions and recommendations, and references. the sampling frame consist architects 1149 (obtained from the south african institute of architects (saia)); master builders 320 (obtained from the master builder’s association (mba)); clients 161 (obtained from the south african property owners association (sapoa)); structural engineers 43 (obtained from civil engineers’ south africa (cesa east cape)), and quantity surveyors 473 (obtained from the association of south african quantity surveyors (asaqs)). from these, the sample sizes were calculated. probability sampling technique was employed for sample selection. for the architects, master builders, and the clients random sampling was used. systematic sampling techniques were used for the quantity surveyors, and the structural engineers and other the entire sample were surveyed based on the recommendation of leedy and omrod (2014). the research instrument for this study was a questionnaire survey, which was administered to respondents through the post (architects, master builders, structural engineers, sapoa and cesa) and email (quantity surveyors). based on griffith and watson’s categorization of leadership styles, nine (9) management styles (set timelines, specify goals people are to accomplish, require regular reporting on progress, provide specific direction, organise the work situation for workers, involve team members through discussion of work, provide support and encouragement, allow the workers to organize the work, seek worker's opinion and concerns) were identified and presented to the respondents to indicate their influences on project delivery time. the responses were received through the same means. the questionnaire response rate according to professional obtained is architects (9), master builders (18), quantity surveyors (23), and structural engineers (23), clients (12) and others (3). a total of eighty-eight (88) questionnaires are representing 6.1% response rate achievement recorded on questionnaire administration. the data obtained were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. a five-point likert scale adjoined with ‘unsure' and ‘does not' (dn) options were employed to analyse summated scores of the respondent's responses. given that there are five points on the scale, and that 5 – 1 = 4, the ranges were determined by dividing four by five which equates to 0.8. consequently, the scales and their definitions are given as follows: • 4.20 ≤ 5.00 between a near major to major/major influence; • > 3.40 ≤ 4.20 between moderate influence to a near major / near major influence; • > 2.60 ≤ 3.40 between a near minor to moderate influence / moderate influence; • > 1.80 ≤ 2.60 between a minor to near minor influence / near minor influence, and • > 1.00 ≤ 1.08 between a minor to near minor influence. cronbach’s coefficient test and validity test were performed and were found satisfactory. cronbach’s alpha of ≥ .97 and factor loading of >.60 for samples sizes 8589 were obtained. based on these data obtained can be deemed reliable. it was found that majority of the respondents belong to the private sector (74%), their average working years is 17, and most are over the age of thirty (30). respondents with bachelor’s degree predominate (25%), and who have handled not less than six (6) types of projects. 4. findings and discussion 4.1 influence of management styles on project delivery time the study sought to find out the influence of management styles on project delivery time. the data collected in this regard is presented in table 1. table 1: mean score of the influence of management styles on project delivery time management styles adopted mean score set timelines 4.13 specify goals people are to accomplish 4.06 require regular reporting on progress 3.97 provide specific direction 3.96 organise the work situation for workers 3.79 involve team members through discussion of work 3.93 provide support and encouragement 3.85 allow the workers to organise the work 3.79 seek worker’s opinion and concerns 3.54 table 1 presents the respondents’ rating of the influence of management styles on project delivery time in south africa. it is notable that all factors in this category have mean scores is 3.40<mean score<4.20, which indicates that these factors have between a moderate to near major / near major influence on project delivery time. nine (9) management styles were presented to the respondents for rating; out of which four (set timelines, specify goals people are to accomplish, require regular reporting on progress, provide specific direction) were derivatives of autocratic leadership styles, three (organise the work situation for workers, involve team members through discussion of work, provide support and encouragement) were derived from democratic leadership styles, and two (allow the workers to organize the work, seek worker’s opinion and concerns) from laissez-faire leadership styles. table 1 shows that management styles derived from autocratic leadership styles were found to have the most influence on project delivery time (mean score is from 3.96 to 4.13). among the autocratic-based management styles, the most influential management styles on project delivery time are setting timelines. this finding is close in agreement with previous studies by rojas and aramvareel (2003) that out-ofsequence scheduling of work may result in a loss of 42 a. o. aiyetan / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).38-44 momentum (rhythm) per time and subsequently lost in production. this implies that to achieve meaningful progress, managers need to define the number of tasks to be performed within a specified time. also, the result shows that the lack of specification of timelines for the performance of activities may have an adverse effect on the delivery of projects. construction activities have been described as difficult and masculine. therefore, to meet production targets, measures such as setting timelines are set to achieve planned production levels. the next significant management style among the autocratic-based management styles is specifying the goals that people are to accomplish. construction projects consist of activities, which need to be specified to workers and supervisors through information given by management for monthly, weekly or daily task executions until project completion. this is partly the reason for the need to provide a work schedule. when these details are not adhered to, it may have an adverse effect on the delivery time of projects. this agrees with the conclusion of pheng and chuan (2005) that the definition of goals affects project performance positively. require regular reporting on progress and provide specific direction only have a moderate influence on project delivery time. a progress report is a project control system, and when the project delivery time is being monitored and controlled effectively, the chance of timely delivery is high. all the three democratic-based management styles have a moderate influence on project delivery time (organise the work situation for workers (mean score=3.79), involve team members through discussion of work (mean score=3.93), provide support and encouragement (mean score=3.85)). this shows that the efforts by construction managers to organise tasks, involve the workers in the organisation of works, and encourage workers, contribute positively to the project delivery time. it is deduced from this result that workers value the encouragement and involvement in work planning and organisation. the least influential management styles are found in laissez-faire-based management styles category (allow the workers to organise the work (mean score=3.79), seek worker’s opinion and concerns (mean score=3.54)). this shows that although it is important to involve the workers in work planning, it is detrimental to the project objectives and expectations to allow the workers to be in control of the work planning and organisation. workers are not very skilful in contributing ideas to improve work execution. most of the workers are afraid to speak to their supervisors. these are the most likely reasons for this factor having the lowest impact on project delivery time. 4.2 influence of management qualities on project delivery time the study also sought to investigate the influence of management qualities on project delivery time. the data collected in this regard is presented in table 2. table 2: mean score of the influence of management qualities on project delivery time management styles adopted mean score effectively coordinating resources 3.92 developing an appropriate organisational structure to maintain workflow 3.88 forecasted planning date activity duration, resource quantities required 3. 80 responding to recover from problems or taking advantage of opportunities presented 3.77 monitoring and updating plans to reflect work status appropriately 3.66 analysing of work sequencing to achieve and maintain workflow 3.66 analysing resource movement to and onsite 3.50 analysing construction methods 3.38 effectively coordinating resources 3.92 respondents were required to rate the influence of management qualities during construction on project delivery (table 2). seven out of eight management qualities have mean score > 3.40 ≤ 4.20, which indicates a moderate to a near major / near major influence on project delivery time. the most critical management quality as found in this study is effectively coordinating resources. the lack of effective control of resources, namely machines, materials and human resources may lead to disorder on construction sites. a clash of activities, which may, in turn, lead to a lack of materials on site and a shortage of labour on site, may, in turn, result in low productivity. these all have a cumulative adverse effect on the delivery time of the project. these findings concur with the findings of chan et al. (2004) and kazaz and ulubeyli (2003). chan et al. (2004) found that the coordinating skills of the project team leader affect the construction of a project and kazaz and ulubeyli (2003) are of the view that assignment decisions of resources such as labour, equipment and materials control the overall duration and cost of a project. the next influential management quality is developing an appropriate organisational structure to maintain workflow. construction activities are carried out by issuing instructions, and by providing guidance and support. superiors give instructions to subordinates. the labourers and supervisors must be aware of whom they must take instructions from and whom to report. a situation where these are not well defined may lead to poor performance on the project. a well-defined organisational structure will assist in the maintenance of a steady workflow. this finding is in line with the conclusion of bassioni et al. (2005) declaring that the involvement of leaders in ensuring that management systems are developed for operations is a significant performance factor for success the management quality with the lowest mean score is analysing the movement of resources to and from the site. the various resources that are required on site must be estimated to avoid idleness which engenders waste. these could be in the form of time losses, which is indirectly wasting money and may lead to bankruptcy and abandonment of the project. the findings of this study agree with most results of studies that have been conducted in different countries in the world such as koushki and kartam (2004) that show that late delivery and damaged materials to site cause project delays. pheng and chuan (2005) found that a. o. aiyetan / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 38-44 43 management style adopted adversely affect workers productivity when the specification of goals workers are to achieve are not set. relative to management quality during construction, inability to effectively coordinate resources were found to have an adverse effect on project delivery time, when adequate measures are not in place to mitigate their impact on project delivery time (tam et al., 2002); develop appropriate organization structure (bassiani et al., 2003), and forecasted planning date (arditi and mohammed, 2002). 5. conclusion and further research the study reached these conclusions that the following adversely affect project delivery time when attention is not given to them: setting timelines, specifying goals for workers, regular reporting on progress, effectively coordinating resources, developing an appropriate organisational structure to maintain workflow, and forecasting planning date. to mitigate the effect of the findings, it is recommended that weekly planning of resources and optimum gang size should be developed. this is relative to alleviating materials shortages and achievement of the target output of production, selecting adequate gang sizes to the task, and ensuring correct activity sequencing. identification of key performance factors such as physical and socio-cultural factors that could impede on construction speed is recommended for further research. 6. publication an earlier version of this paper was presented at the 9th cidb pg conference, 1-4 february 2016, cape town, south africa. references acebes, f., pajares, j., galan, j.m., and lopez-paredes, a. 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(2008). leadership for future construction industry: agenda for autocratic leadership. international journal of project management, 26(6): 620630. walker, d. h. t. and shen, y. j. (2002) project understanding, planning, flexibility of management action and construction time performance: two australian case studies. construction management and economics, (20), 31-44. yilmaz, f. 2015. monitoring and analysis of construction site accidents by using accidents analysis management system in turkey. journal of sustainable development. 8(2), 57-65. jcbm (2018) 2(1). 1-9 duties and required competencies of a management contractor c. ayegba 1 school of construction economics and management, university of the witwatersrand, south africa1 received 15 november 2016; received in revised form 26 march 2017, 3 june 2017; accepted 7 july 2017 abstract one of the responses to the critical failings of separation of design and construction processes of traditional procurement system is the development of management contracting (mc) procurement system. several studies have indicated mc procurement system to be most suitable for large and complex projects, when on-time project delivery is required, and when flexibility during construction is desired. owing to the involvement of the management contractor at both design and construction stage of projects, the management contractors play more significant role in the benefits that mc system has shown to deliver. this study aims to investigate the duties performed by the management contractor and the required competencies for a management contractor, to provide knowledge and understanding on important considerations for the selection of a management contractor. empirical data was collected using documentary analysis of three management contracts tender documents and a semi-structured interview with a key role player of two of the management contracts in south africa. findings revealed the duties performed by management contractors to be multitasking, covering both the preconstruction and construction stage of building projects. also, owing to the increased responsibilities of management contractors, the competencies required to perform as a management contractor are distinguishable when compared to competencies needed of contractors to perform in other procurement systems. the knowledge and understanding of the duties and required competencies to perform as management contractors provided in this study will help construction clients and the construction industry in the selection process, performance management and evaluation of management contractors. keywords: construction procurement, management and relationship formation duties, management contracting procurement system, management contractor. 1. introduction there has been increasing advocacy in favour of a procurement system that supports the requirements for integration in construction in recent years (smith and offordile, 2008; watermayer, 2012). the increased advocacy is linked to the influence of the latham 1994 "constructing the team" and egan 1998 "rethinking construction" reports, which suggest the separation of design and construction processes as the fundamental weakness of the construction industry. the procurement systems that absorb contractor's involvement at both the design and construction stages as described by murdoch and hughes (2008) are mc procurement system, and design and build system. nevertheless, unlike in design and build, management contractors in mc do not undertake the actual design and construction themselves. designers usually do have a separate contract with clients, 1 corresponding author. tel: +27838577321 email address: 1174370@students.wits.ac.za while the real construction works are sub-contracted to work contractors by the management contractor (ibid). the chartered institute of building (ciob, 2010) survey report on procurement in the construction industry indicated that as construction projects increase in complexity and value, the management contracting system tends to be the preferred choice of construction procurement adopted by construction clients over the other procurement systems. as well, in a survey on construction industry indicators by the construction industry development board (cidb, 2014) management contracting system was indicated to be the second most used procurement system by national and provincial departments after the traditional system which is also referred to as general contracting procurement system. in a study evaluating management contracting and investigating the significant difference in clients perspective of performance criteria between management university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:1174370@students.wits.ac.za 2 c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 and traditional procurement systems by sidwell (1983) and naoum (1994) respectively; the benefits in management contracting system were attributed to the improved integration of project team members, flexibility of the system, breaking down of work into packages with total competition of work packages, improved collaboration, risk sharing, early contractor’s involvement and more relational relationship enhanced by the management contractor. the distinguishing feature of the management contracting system from the traditional method is the introduction of a management contractor at the design stage of the project. according to murdoch and hughes (2008), the introduction of the management contractor allows for the contribution of the management contractor's experience and expertise in the design and construction management of projects. therefore, the reported benefits of the system can be as a result of the roles and duties performed by the management contractor. while available research on mc emphasises more on the advantages and suitability of using the system (see naoum, 1994; naoum and langford, 1987; sidwell, 1983; ward et al., 1991). limited attention has been given to investigating the performed duties and the required competencies to perform as a management contractor that has resulted in the reported benefits mc has shown to deliver. the aim of this research, therefore, is to investigate the duties performed by management contractors and the required competencies for management contractors to carry out their functions efficiently. 2. literature review 2.1 management contracting procurement system the established procurement systems in the construction industry are management contracting, traditional procurement (also known as general contracting or design-bid-build system), design and build and construction management procurement system. others, as suggested by macaulay and ramsey (2002) are hybrid procurement systems based on a combination of one or more of the procurement systems mentioned above. each of these construction procurement systems differs in the way they allocate responsibility and liability to contractors for design, construction and management of construction works. for example, from the details in the following textbooks by hughes et al (2006: 7-12), masterman (2003: 23-116) and murdoch and hughes (2008: 27-79): in the traditional system of procurement, the contractor is only involved at the construction stage of projects, where they undertake construction works only, without any responsibilities or inputs at pre-construction and project design stages; in the design and build system, the contractors are responsible for both the design (based on clients brief) and the construction works of the project; while in a management contracting system, the contractors are responsible for the performance of the whole contracts, including defining packages of work and management of construction works which are subcontracted to work contractors. management contracting evolved from the united kingdom (uk) (sidwell, 1983). according to murdoch and hughes (2008), the system has been in use for a considerable period even though it was only in 1987 that a standard form of contract was developed for it. the horizon factory in nottingham for john payer limited designed by arup and associates and built by bovis limited, and the british library in london where among the earliest projects built using this system (murdoch and hughes, 2008; sidwell, 1983). the international standard organisation (iso 10845-1 2010) describes management contracting system as a procurement system in which the contractor provides consultation during the design stage and is responsible for planning and managing all post contract activities and for the performance of the whole contract. in contrast to the practice in a construction management system or a traditional procurement system in which contractor also go into direct contract with the client, only the management contractor goes into construction work contract for the entire building project with the client, and takes responsibility for the administrative and operational works of the contract in a management contracting system (al-harthi et al., 2014b; murdoch and hughes, 2008; naoum, 1994; sidwell, 1983; ward et al., 1991). therefore, the system is indicated to consist of 100% subcontracting, since every item of the work is subcontracted to work contractors. however, in the guidance on procurement and contract strategies provided by the institute of civil engineers (ice, 2005: 7) management contractors may also participate in some actual construction works. in the joint contract tribunal guidance note as highlighted by murdoch and hughes (2008: 61) the suitable circumstances in which management contracting can be used as a procurement option includes: when design is to be carried out by an independent architect and design team, when there is need for early completion since work can begin while complete design is still being undertaken and when project requirements are significant. others are when there is need to change the client's requirements during the construction stage and when the maximum possible competition concerning price is required. also, the delivery management guidelines practice guide 2 on construction procurement strategy of the construction industry development board (cidb, 2011) suggests that a management contract is appropriate in the following project environment: where there is limited capability or capacity to advance the work beyond a strategic brief, when the contractor needs to work alongside the design team to develop the programme for design, when the employer has limited resources to manage and procure some construction work contracts, and when single point accountability is desired for the delivery of a series of projects. however, naoum and langford (1987) argued that many contracting organisations enter management contracting without the right personnel and do not understand the change in status as they just regard themselves as administrative middlemen between the sub-contractors and the client, and thus do not inject any creative ideas into the project procurement process. 2.2 difference between management contracting and the traditional procurement system c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 3 on review of organization structure and contractual relationships of management contracting and the traditional system of procurement as provided by (alharthi et al., 2014; murdoch and hughes, 2008; naoum, 1994; naoum and langford, 1987; rics, 2012; sidwell, 1983; ward et al., 1991), figure 1 and figure 2 were developed to illustrate the contractual relationship and organization structure in expressing the differences between management contracting and traditional procurement system. figure 1. traditional procurement system figure 2. management contracting procurement system in the traditional procurement system shown in figure 1, work contractors have a direct contractual relationship with the client. this will result in a more active role by the customer in contrast to what is the practice in management contracting, where only the management contractor has a contractual relationship with the client (see figure 2). the management contractor then appoints and manages the work contractors who are contractually accountable to the management contractor. this enables clients to take more detached roles in the project procurement process as suggested by (naoum and langford, 1987). figure 2 also shows that the management contractor is elevated to the same level as the project consultants, enabling the management contractor to offer services both at the design stage and as well as the construction stage. with this arrangement, the consultants will be having access to the expertise and experience of the management contractor at the pre-construction stage, which will result in improved services from the consultants. according to murdoch and hughes (2008) the opportunity provided for contractors to have the same status with the consultants is the primary reason why contractors favored a management contracting system to the traditional method, where contractors are directly placed under the scrutiny of consultants or the project's principal agent, which usually are architects depending on the type of project. client designers architectural & structural cost consultants services engineers works contractor client designers architectural & structural cost consultants services engineers works contractors management contractor 4 c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 also, in contrast to the practice in traditional procurement system in which designs are typically completed before construction commences, in management contracting, the management contractor, being a member of the design team and a member of the construction team is engaged early at the pre-construction stage of the project. thereby facilitating the overlap of designs and construction processes. this practice is attributed to the flexibility and early project completion feature in management contracting system (naoum, 1994; sidwell, 1983 and ward et al., 1991). furthermore, in management contracting system, subcontracting is a major distinguishing feature. the management contractor does no construction work but rather subcontract all the works, which are usually broken down into work packages to the work contractors as submitted by (alharthi et al., 2014 and murdoch and hughes, 2008). contrary to the traditional system, where the work contractor is responsible for the actual construction of work and may use subcontractors as well. also, contractors in a traditional system are often paid a lump sum for the contract, but in management contracting, management contractors usually go into a fee contract and are paid a prime cost for all works done plus a fee. although murdoch and hughes (2008) argued that certain direct works such as site staffing, provision of labour and materials and sundry cost services provided by the management contractor should be dealt with on a lump sum basis instead of cost reimbursement. from the preceding, the differences in management contracting appear to be responsible for the added advantages attributed to the system over the traditional procurement system. thereby, making management contracting a more suitable procurement route particularly for large and complex projects, and when early completion and flexibility during construction is desired. 2.3 duties of a management contractor as a result of the increase in responsibilities of the management contractor, in being a consultant as well as a contractor, and in providing services at the preconstruction stage and the construction stage, the benefits in management contracting could be attributed to the duties performed by the management contractor. owing to the different roles and responsibilities of the management contractor, the tasks carried out by the management contractor can be argued to be distinct from that of a general contractor in a traditional system. this calls for clarification of the duties of the management contractor and to categorise them accordingly in the different phases of a construction project. in a case study involving 39 management contracts and 30 traditional contracts in the uk, in investigating whether the means of procurement influenced project performance, naoum (1994) reported that management contractor's liability and responsibility is not apparent, and there is not enough evidence to support how management contracting reduces overall building cost and quality of projects. this report may be an indication of a gap in knowledge on the duties performed by management contractors. however, murdoch and hughes (2008: 64) asserted that due to the functions carried out by the management contractor, the roles of a contract administrator and a quantity surveyor might not be defined in a management contract. essentially the duties performed by the management contractor are divided into pre-construction period duties and construction period duties (murdoch and hughes, 2008: 64). at the pre-construction stage, the management contractor performs duties such as professional team integration, advising on the breakdown of work packages and assisting with negotiations. while responsibilities such as programming and planning, monitoring off-site preparation work, instituting effective cost control techniques, labour relations and site management are performed by the management contractor at the construction stage, in addition to providing site facilities and services. sidwell (1983) submits that the two most important duties of the management contractor are in subcontractors control and design team integration. similarly, ward et al. (1991) have reported coordination of work responsibilities and liabilities and control functions as the duties performed by a management contractor. these identified management contractor duties appear comparable to management duties as defined by mintzberg (1973: 92) that includes: the interpersonal role of figurehead, leader and liaison; the informational role of monitor, disseminator and spokesman; and the decisional role of entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. an earlier view of managerial duties was described by henry fayol in 1916 (fayol, 1954) to include planning, organising, controlling, commanding and coordinating. 2.4 required competencies of a management contractor competency has been described as the knowledge, skills, and behaviours required to perform well and to keep up with the culture of an industry (delo et al., 2010). mirabile (1997) earlier describes competency as the "knowledge, skill, ability or characteristic associated with high performance on a job, such as problem-solving, analytical thinking, or leadership." for a management contractor to perform required duties in management contracting effectively, it can be argued that the management contractor needs certain competencies. several studies have sought to identify required skills and their relationship to positions and performance in different jobs. for example, in a report evaluating management contracts in the uk, sidwell (1983) identified builder's management, construction, estimating, buying and planning as skills made available to design teams by management contractors which brings the benefits of speed, economy, and construction method. meredith and mantel jr (2011: 142) categorise project management required competencies into six key skill areas, to include: communication, organisation, team building, leadership, coping and technological skills. according to delo et al. (2010), recurring themes of competencies include behaviours such as self-control, resilience, communication, self-assurance, and those related to team leadership. dainty et al. (2005) suggest that construction project managers must combine technical knowledge and expertise with behaviours that engender effective multiorganizational teamwork and communication to achieve successful outcomes. they c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 5 further identified the competencies for project management performance to include the following: achievement orientation, initiative, information seeking, focus on client's needs, impact and influence, directedness, teamwork and cooperation. others are team leadership, analytical thinking, conceptual thinking, selfcontrol, and flexibility; with self-control and team leadership being indicated as the core competencies. owing to the increased responsibility management contractors are expected to perform, undoubtedly the knowledge of their required competencies may provide clients with information for appropriately selecting a management contractor that is capable of achieving the expected project outcomes. 3. research methodology the research was undertaken to investigate the duties performed by the management contractor and the required competencies for a management contractor. this will require a comprehensive and inductive study of management contracts. in view of this, the study adopted the multi-case study research design involving the use of semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis of projects wherein management contracting was used. since no published list that will enable identification of such contracts, purposeful snowballing sampling techniques was used, in which the determination and selection of cases was based on information received from experts and informants. this sampling technique identifies cases of interest from people who know people who know what contracts are information-rich; that is, right examples for the study and good interview subjects (wengraf, 2001). three recent cases of management contracts in south africa were identified; semi-structured interviews with the key role player were carried out and permission was obtained to assess tender documents for documentary analysis in which relevant tender documents were evaluated and interpreted to obtain appropriate data for the study. 4. findings and discussion the data collection involved an examination of project tender documents and semi-structured interviews with the key role players of the three case studies with over ten years' experience in construction at management level. the data generated from the semi-structured interview was analysed using content analysis facilitated with the use of nvivo 11 qualitative analysis software to quickly identify prominent words, as well as key concepts across the three case studies. an analysis was made concerning prominent themes and issues arising from the cases studies. the project details of the three cases of management contracting identified in the study are extracted from tender documents and presented in table 1. table 1 shows the details of the project clients, implementing unit, description and location of the projects, and the selection strategy employed. also, in table 1 are the conditions of the contract, type of contractor required, performance bond required and the extent of subcontracting. table 1: management contracts cases case study 1 (august 2013) case study 2 (august 2013) case study 3 (april 2014) description and location of project refurbishment, extension or alteration of existing buildings for the development of new sol plaatje university in kimberley, northern cape province refurbishment, extension or alteration of existing buildings for the development of the new university of mpumalanga in nelspruit refurbishment of educational and healthcare facilities to improve the quality of existing infrastructure throughout the western cape province selection strategy framework contract, over a three-year term without a guarantee of a quantum of work. same as “cs1." framework contract/s over a three-year term without a commitment to a quantum of work. conditions of contract nec3 ecc – main option f (management contract). dispute resolution option w1: dispute resolution and secondary options x2 changes in the law x7: delay damages x13: performance bond z: additional conditions of contract of the nec3 engineering and construction contract (june 2005) same as "cs1." nec3 ecc – main option f (management contract). dispute resolution option w1: and secondary options x2: changes in the law x5: sectional completion x7: delay damages x13: performance bond x20: key performance indicators z: additional conditions of contract of the nec3 engineering and construction contract (april 2013) 6 c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 type of contractor required cidb contractor grade 6 ce or higher turnover > r 18 m previous refurbishment projects > r7,0 million cidb contractor grade 6gb or higher turnover > r 15 m previous refurbishment projects > r7,5 million quality evaluation of contractor’s (tender) experience of company, experience of principal management, i.e. the key person responsible for interfacing with the project manager and the professional team, approach paper (technical approach and methodology) same as "project 1." experience of key person responsible for interfacing with the project manager, approach paper (technical approach and methodology) duration 156 weeks after starting date 156 weeks after starting date 3 years extent of subcontracting 20.2 work which the contractors will do is confined to the establishment and de-establishment of the site and activities that may be agreed with the project manager from time to time. 20.2 work which the contractors will do is confined to the establishment and deestablishment of the site and activities that may be agreed with the project manager from time to time. work which the contractor will do is confined to the establishment and deestablishment of the site, maintenance, construction and installation activities that may be agreed with the project manager from time to time. performance bond 7.5% 7.5% r 5,0 million cs1, case study 1; nec, new engineering contract; ecc, engineering and construction contract; cidb, construction industry development board; ce, civil engineering; gb, general building works. 4.1 duties of management contractor from the documentary analysis of the project documents for the three case studies, the specific duties performed by the management contractor are presented in table 2. table 2: duties of management contractor duties description stage of project case study 1 case study 2 case study 3 management manage the procurement process, the implementation of project programmes, perform duties relating to overall management of contract, site administration and provide progress reports, p & c ✓ ✓ ✓ co-ordinate coordinate a considerable number of subcontractors, service providers and material suppliers and supervises the work of the subcontractors c ✓ ✓ ✓ plan planning at a package level including development of maintenance plan and condition assessment and preparing forecast to define cost of work at intervals p ✓ direct direct the project team p & c ✓ ✓ ✓ design oversee development of design p ✓ facilitate early start of work to meet deadlines p ✓ ✓ ✓ procure resources procure resources that are necessary to provide the required works and related professional design and condition assessment services p & c ✓ execute limited portion of the work execute a limited part of the work with an own workforce, site establishment and de-establishment and provision of site facilities such as latrines, water and electrical services c ✓ ✓ ✓ contract administration contracting, pricing and targeting strategy, and procurement procedure for the portfolio of projects administer package on behalf of the client, handover completed works and close out of projects and packages p & c ✓ ✓ ✓ p, pre-construction stage; c, construction stage. c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 7 also, participants for semi-structured interviews for the study were selected based on their involvement in the management contracts under investigation. the interviews lasted for about an hour in each case. participants were asked specific questions on the duties performed by the management contractor and the required competencies to perform these duties. note taking, and audio recording of interviews was employed and was then transcribed and analysed using content analysis facilitated with the use of nvivo 11 qualitative analysis software. the prominent themes from the participant's responses were brought together and are summarised as follows: • the management contractor puts all service together like a turnkey development where all the team members report to the management contractor who integrates all team. • the management contractor updates scope and concept to construction drawings and the preconstruction stage. • the management contractor contributes to resolving design issues, reviewing drawings, constructability problems and issues on how to get the project delivered. • management contractors are active partners as part of the development and planning of design team and up to delivery • the management contractor manages and control subcontractors and other occupations and big size labour force during the construction process • carry out induction, safety, and access arrangement • programming of works, getting people on time • ensuring site safety, managing the whole occupational safety, ensuring work is being secured on time in a safe and timely manner and safe working environment • provides training, induction and ensuring everyone has tools and equipment to work with • motivate people: keeping the construction team motivated • managing clients in controlling changes to scope as it affects cost and deadlines 4.2 required competencies for management contractors to perform their duties • sound knowledge of construction and building techniques and construction methodology such that will enable achieving the same outcome but in a better way and cheaper cost. if something is not working the management contractor should be able to come up with a solution. • construction methodology: knowledge of what is new in the market, what is best in the market, the ability to take a drawing and say something is missing or that does not tie in properly, or that there is a need for more information. ability to interpret designs, schedule and manage workflows • leadership qualities • knowledge of construction business which is indicated by the number of years of experience in the business • analysing skills: management contractor should be able to examine projects and say this is the sequence of events, this is how to afford these things, and these are the different activities step and resources needed. • construction management: site administration, procuring subcontractors and then managing and coordinating their work quality and productivity. being proactive solution driven on getting the job done as a team. • contract management: managing variety of contractual relationship with suppliers and subcontractors. • conflict resolution: ability to manage risk events when they occur and move forward. • relationship formation: providing a link and relationship among the professional team • financial management: the ability to manage cash flow by proper forward projecting so that projects do not run out of money. 5. discussion of findings the findings on the duties performed by a management contractor and the required competencies for a management contractor to perform these functions are discussed in this section. 5.1 duties performed by management contractors the tasks performed by management contractors were found to include duties carried out at both the preconstruction and construction stages of construction projects. this aligns with the submission of murdoch and hughes (2008). the main duties performed by management contractors discussed in this section include: 1. construction management duties: the management contractor is responsible for the overall administration of the contract by putting and integrating all services together. the management contractor consults with and coordinates the professional team at the preconstruction stage and the work contractors at the construction stage. the management contractor also plans, organises, schedules and programmes design, work packages and site administration. other construction management duties performed by a management contractor are supervision, monitoring and quality control, to ensure that work is being constructed correctly. also, the management contractor carries out reporting and provision of required project information and facilitates early completion of projects. these duties aligned to management duties established by henry fayol in 1916 (fayol, 1954) describes to include planning, organising, controlling, commanding, and coordinating. 2. leadership duties: the management contractor plays an interpersonal role of head of the project team. directs the project team and work contractors as well as keeps team members motivated while executing the project. management contractors also act as the liaison; spoke person and resource allocator of the project. 3. cost control duties: here management contractors provide cost information to client and design team, prepares forecast to define the cost of work at intervals, carry out cost estimation of work packages, manages clients and the design team in controlling changes to scope 8 c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 as it affects cost and formulate the most cost-effective plan that will deliver the project within budget. 4. buildability assessment duties: buildability assessment duties were adjudged as one of the core duties performed by the management contractor (murdoch and hughes, 2008; sidwell, 1983). management contractors are active partners of the design team and use their experience and expertise in construction to contribute to resolving design issues, reviewing drawings and designs alternatives, reviewing construction feasibility issues, assessing the availability of labour, materials, plants and equipment, and issues on how to get projects delivered. also, the management contractor updates the scope and concept of the construction drawings, provides information on cost and materials, construction methodology, what is new and best in the market, and implications of various decisions in the course of the project. 5. purchasing duties: management contractor purchases and order materials, supplies and resources that is necessary to provide the required works. 6. contracting duties: the management contractor is responsible for evaluating, selecting, negotiating, and going into contract relationship with subcontractors, suppliers, and other service providers in the client’s interest. also, management contractors are responsible for the establishment and de-establishment of the site at the completion of the project. 7. conflict resolution duties: a management contractor manages disputes that may arise on site, and drafts and negotiates contracts properly to avoid ambiguities and dispute. 8. relationship formation duties: management contractors provide and facilitate links and relationship among project team as well as cooperate and seek cooperation with all persons involved in the project. 9. health and safety duties: here management contractors carry out duties ensuring site safety, manages the complete occupational safety, and ensuring work is being secured on time in a safe manner and in saving the working environment. also, management contractors should ensure compliance with health and safety codes and regulations. 5.2 required competencies to perform as a management contractor competency is the knowledge, skills, and behaviour necessary to perform well and keep up with the culture of an industry (delo et al., 2010). owing to the increased responsibilities assigned to the management contractor in a management contracting procurement system as indicated in the duties of a management contractor from the foregoing, the competencies required to perform as a management contractor differ from that needed to perform as a general contractor in a traditional procurement system of which financial and technical capabilities are key required competencies. the typical required competency for management contractors to carry out their functions identified in the study are: sound knowledge of construction techniques, good understanding of construction methodology, leadership skills including excellent temperament and self-control, knowledge of construction business, construction management skills (to include: programming, planning, organizing, coordinating, supervising and monitoring skills), analyzing skills, financial management skills, sound knowledge of contract management including knowledge of bid evaluation, negotiating power, relationship formation skills and conflict resolution skills. these competencies align with required competencies for management contractors and construction project managers as explained by sidwell (1983) and dainty et al. (2005). 6. conclusions this study aimed to investigate the duties performed by management contractors and the required competencies for a management contractor, to provide knowledge and understanding on important considerations for the selection of a management contractor. this will give a better understanding of the duties to be performed by a management contractor in a management contracting procurement system and the required competencies for one to perform as a management contractor. the research findings show that the duties performed by management contractors discussed in the study relate to construction management, leadership, cost control, buildability assessment, purchasing, contracting, conflict resolution, relationship formation, and health and safety duties. the identified required competencies to perform as a management contractor are sound knowledge of construction techniques, construction methodology, construction business, construction management, financial management, contract management, relationship formation and conflict resolution. others are leadership and analysing skills. the knowledge and understanding of the duties and required competencies to perform as management contractors provided in this study will help construction clients and the construction industry in the selection process, performance management and evaluation of management contractors. the findings from the study also give insight on the needed requirements for professional development and training for aspiring management contractors. also, the findings from the study will have the potentials to provide documentation for reference in a future study on management contractor and selection of management contractors. references alharthi, a., soetanto, r. and edum-fotwe, f.t., 2014. revisiting client roles and capabilities in construction procurement. in: proceedings of the international conference on construction in a changing world cib w92 procurement systems, sri lanka, 2014, 12pp. chartered institute of building (ciob) (2010) a report exploring procurement in the construction industry, ascot: ciob, available at http://www.ciob.org/procurement (accessed 9.19.15). construction industry development board, 2014. construction industry indicators. available at c. ayegba / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 1-9 9 http://cidb.org.za/publications/pages/constructionindustry-indicators.aspx (accessed 9.19.15). dainty, a.r., cheng, m.-i., moore, d.r., 2005. competency-based model for predicting construction project managers’ performance. j. manag. eng. 21, 2–9. delo, a., hepworth, p., hepworth, a., 2010. assessing the competent project manager. proj. manag. today 2–6. fayol, h., 2016. general and industrial management. ravenio books. iso 10845, 1, (2010). iso 10845-1:2010 construction procurement -part 1: processes, methods and procedures. http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue detail?csnumber = 46190 (accessed 9.18.15). meredith, j.r., mantel jr, s.j., 2011. project management: a managerial approach. john wiley & sons. mintzberg, h., 1973. the nature of managerial work. harper row. mirabile, r.j., 1997. everything you wanted to know about competency modelling. train. dev. 51, 73–78. murdoch, j., hughes, w., 2002. construction contracts: law and management. routledge. naoum, s.g., langford, d., 1987. management contracting—the client’s view. j. constr. eng. manag. 113, 369–384. naoum, s.g., 1994. critical analysis of time and cost of management and traditional contracts. j. constr. eng. manag. 120, 687–705. rics (2012) draft guidance note developing a building procurement strategy and selecting an appropriate procurement route, available at https://consultations.rics.org/consult.ti/procurement/view compounddoc?docid=2704532 (accessed 9.10.15). sidwell, a., 1983. an evaluation of management contracting. constr. manag. econ. 1, 47–55. smith, a.d., offodile, o.f., 2008. strategic importance of team integration issues in product development processes to improve manufacturability.team performance management 14 (5/6), 269–292. ward, s.c., curtis, b., chapman, c.b., 1991. advantages of management contracting—critical analysis. j. constr. eng. manag. 117, 195–211. wengraf, t., 2001. qualitative research interviewing: biographic narrative and semi-structured methods. sage. jcbm (2019) 3(1).27-37 effect of management strategies in entrenching organisational safety culture in the electricity industry of zambia e. m. mwanaumo1 and m. mambwe 2 1& 2 department of civil and environmental engineering, school of engineering, university of zambia, great east road campus, lusaka, zambia received 7 june 2018; received in revised form 23 october 2018 and 28 december 2018; accepted 10 january 2019. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.598 abstract entrenching safety cultural aspects is one of the functional areas within the management system that underlines various strategies. a number of investigations in the electricity industry revealed that a deficiency of organisational safety culture is one of the underlying causes of accidents. this study sought to determine management strategies that impact organisational safety culture in the electricity industry in zambia. the objectives underpinning the study include establishing management strategies that affect organisational safety culture, assessing worker's knowledge on safety, health and environmental (she) programs, and ascertain the effect of organisational safety culture on workers attitude towards safety. various literature was reviewed on management strategies. the research used the quantitative method in which descriptive and analytical survey methods using one-way analysis of variance (anova) as inferential statistics. a structured questionnaire to obtain data was designed, and the multiple linear regression method to analyse data in order to meet the research objectives was applied. the study selected 230 workers from companies within the electricity industry using simple random sampling while 170 questionnaires were completed, giving a response rate of 73.91%. findings revealed that workers understand organisational safety culture and she processes; while management strategies such as recruitment, and rewards and compensation, had a significant influence on organisational safety culture. the study concluded that management commitment and their involvement in the safety aspects of the electricity industry is not just a benevolent obligation, but it compels and motivates the workers they protect to achieve organisational objectives and goals. furthermore, the study recommended the restructuring of processes during induction and orientation to maintain high levels of safety at workplaces in order to record few workplace accidents. keywords: electricity industry, entrenching, management strategies, organisational safety culture 1. introduction she management has historically been very responsive in the electricity industry, with measures of improvement only happening after root causes of major incidents have been established. organisational safety culture has the capacity to create a cohesiveness that cultivates growth and give distinctiveness by providing standards that allow a variety of approach in an organisation (mwanaumo & thwala, 2011). according to the united nations, safety at work is not only a sound economic policy but also a basic human right which can be achieved through culture (who, 2006). this is an important statement that encourages the need to employ safety policies world over, as a human right. 1 corresponding author. email address: erastus.mwanaumo@unza.zm rendering du toit (2012), on operational safety culture in the organisation, he postulated that development of humanity could enable the magnitude of threats in a workplace. further, several studies have been undertaken that conclude that organisational safety culture in any industry is an imperative element to she management that ascertains the significance of noticeable engagement of top management in heightening the adoption of safety culture by workers (kwayisi, 2014: 36). according to son (2016), organisational safety culture has increasing prominence and acceptance as one of the essential elements in the management of risks in large and complex engineering systems. as a result of the relatively high magnitude of consequences which are synonymous with high hazardous industries, a strong emphasis is university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.598 28 e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 placed on development of an excellent safety culture within an organisation (olusuyi, 2011). entrenching safety cultural aspects is one of the salient functional areas of the majority of management systems, with strategies aimed at establishing key frameworks ranked amongst the top priority of management. the electricity industry is one such industry that is synonymous with issues of safety culture due to the dynamic nature of operations undertaken, coupled with a high level of risk. aspects of organisational behaviour that are related to culture are normally unnoticed and their impact on organisational safety culture underrated. in entrenching organisational safety culture in the electricity industry, management involvement and its commitment to ensuring safety values are maintained as one of the factors to organisational safety culture as postulated by mihai and sorin (2010: 305). implicitly, a relationship exists between management commitment and safety performance even though it warrants further research (kwayisi, 2014). in agbola (2012: 54) organisational safety culture is considered as a subset of organisational culture and is focused on commonalities among attitudes to safety. organisational safety culture was also paraphrased by zou and sunjino (2015) that it includes shared values at the group level, formal safety issues attributed to an organisation, linkages related to management and supervisory systems that emphasises the contribution of all organisational partakers, has a positive effect on workers' behaviour, and involves reward and durability. according to the auditor general's report on the management of occupational health and safety in zambia presented during the fifth session of the eleventh national assembly (2015), the rise in the number of occupational accidents in high-risk industries such as the electricity industry could be attributed to lack of strategies by organisations used to reduce the risk of incidences. the report further indicated that there was need for top management to come up with strategies that can be implemented within such organisations to curb the rise in accidents and create a culture of safety. additionally, according to the energy regulation board (erb) report of zambia (2014) most electrical accidents result from unsafe equipment or installation, unsafe environment, or unsafe work practices. investigations into these accidents identified that some of the causes of injuries and fatalities are related to the safety perception and include factors such as faulty insulation, improper grounding, loose connections, defective or wrong parts, unguarded live parts, and failure to deenergise electrical parts before inspection or repair, improperly maintained electrical tools and equipment, failure to exercise caution when working, exposed energised lines and equipment, and using inappropriate personal protective equipment and insulated tools. further, zesco limited, a government-owned entity, experienced a lot of work-related accidents attributed to she in the first quarter of 2016 indicating 38% of the total incidences in the industry this is according to the report by the worker's compensation fund control board (wcfcb). these incidences caused electrocutions, road traffic accidents, fall from a height, electrical burns/flashes, hit/struck by an object, material/manual handling and caught-in-between and disease contracted during employment. another analysis of data obtained from wcfcb revealed that the rate of fatalities arising from workplace accidents rose from 67 to 127 cases in 2011 and 2014 respectively representing an increase of 65% in the period under review (wcfcb, 2016). furthermore, during the 2019 national budget presentation on 28 september 2018 to the zambian parliament, it was mentioned that the government had planned to recruit over 1,000 safety inspectors in the ministry of labour and social security in order to closely monitor high risk industries on issues related to she and help organisations formulate strategies, policies and procedures that can be used to curb accidents and promote employee welfare. this pronouncement is an indication that the zambian government was ready to work with the industries in making sure accidents are reduced by helping promote strategies at a national level that can be adapted to stimulate organisational safety culture. similarly, highrisk industries can develop roadmaps and plans that would be a basis in formulating strategies to organisational safety culture. given the above, management strategies are required and important to achieve organisational objectives aligned with the national strategies on safety. therefore, the objectives of the study was to establish management strategies that have a positive effect on promoting organisational safety culture; to assess worker's knowledge of she programs; and to establish the effect of organisational safety culture on workers' attitude towards safety. the study findings will contribute to the zambian electricity industry safety performance by proposing strategies to promote organisational safety culture to the department of occupational health and safety in the ministry of labour and social security, and industry organisational top management. furthermore, the research results shall be of great significant in illustrating the effects, whether positive or negative, of the strategies employed specific to the organisation according to the policies. 2. overview of organisational safety culture and management strategies 2.1 organisational safety culture organisational safety culture as designated by dumas (2011) is a constituent of the general philosophy of an organisation that affects the attitudes and beliefs of the workers regarding health and safety routine. although there is no treaty on organisational safety culture definition, various definitions with similar elements have emerged over the years within the literature such as dumas (2011) and zou and sunjino (2015). these elements include attitude, behaviour and perception of workers in an organisation which make them realise that safety is a priority. choudhry et al., (2007) further described organisational safety culture as: learned behaviour and those beliefs in the necessity, practicality and effectiveness of controls, attitudes and risk perception which makes people think safely and trust in safety measures or characteristics and attitudes in an organisation resulting in safety issues being a priority. e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 29 additionally, according to guldenmund (2007), organisational safety culture are aspects of the organisational culture that have a future impact on attitudes and behaviour and values to increase or decrease safety risks. 2.2 organisational safety culture in the electricity industry organisational safety culture lies in the heart of effective management of all risks related to the electricity industry such as major accidents and hazards according to olusuyi (2011: 3) and is understood to be a major pointer to safety performance as indicated by wachter and yorio (2014: 119). organisations have programs they can use to improve organisational safety culture in order to reduce costs and increase performance (haukelid, 2008). subsequently, some of the accidents in the electricity industry can be reduced through appropriate safe working behaviour (hopkins, 2006). accumulation of errors, questionable decisions, and misguided priorities placed ahead of safety, results in accidents. nonetheless, causes of most accidents are ascribed to human error, and as suggested by most researchers in this knowledge area, 85%98% of injuries that occur at workplaces are caused by unsafe attitudes (williamsen, 2007: 19). workers' unsafe acts are postulated to be the cause of about 88% of industrial accidents and that organisational failures are the underlying factors in individual action-oriented errors (carrillo, 2010: 50). most studies reviewed in the sub-saharan regions have applauded the need for management to create strategies that would increase the levels of safety awareness and encourage organisational safety culture. however, the studies reviewed are not specific to the electricity industry but inclined to other industries such as mining, construction and aviation. in the study by akpan (2011) on effective health and safety management policies for improved performance in organisations in africa, he mentioned that there was a need for management to be the driver for effective health and safety. some of his findings can be used in the electricity industry since most of the safety problems in the region are similar regardless of the sector. additionally, asieduappiah et al. (2013) whose study was specific to the mining industry indicated the importance of management involvement in formulating she strategies. other proponents for using management strategies such as policies and procedures, training and worker involvement in uplifting organisational safety culture in organisations in the construction and health industry include mwanaumo and thwala (2011) in botswana and kwayisi (2014) ghana. on the other hand, in some organisations within the electricity industry in zambia, management are disconcerted with issues of safety. this assertion is supported by asiedu-appiah, et al. (2013) who opined that responsibilities in coordination and planning of organisational safety cultural aspects in the electricity industry had no clear-cut and that adherence to she laws and regulations were generally low. kilian (2012) further espoused that management requires that it champions organisational safety culture as they have a significant role to play through administering, communicating, facilitating and supporting the process. a report prepared by the kafue gorge regional training centre (2014: 5) showed that safety programs were not highly recognized especially in the distribution divisions of the electricity sector. this report recommended that there was need for management, especially in distribution facades to adopt organisational safety culture as a key function and hence establish safety programs. this gap could be ascribed to a lack of safety policy at the time, to provide the direction needed for the framework and successful implementation of safetydriven culture. 2.3 the role of management strategies in organisational safety culture in the perspective of the organisational safety culture of an organisation, participation of top and middle management denotes the extent to which individual workers get involved with critical safety activities (dumas, 2011). according to mambwe and mwanaumo (2017: 567), these safety activities include management presence, collaboration and interaction of managers at safety seminars, she circles (safety tool box), green area meetings, and ability to stay in-touch with risks relevant to the day to day operations with the workers. the occupation and safety act no. 36 (2010) requires an employer to ensure all workers implement safety and health strategies. this ensures that safety managers assist in the implementation and management of she programs, processes and strategies of an organisation and are responsible for the maintenance of safety records, coordinating induction and orientation on she for new and existing workers, accident investigation, communication and information materials on safety. tan and nasurdin (2011: 157) aver that management strategies are aligned to specific strategies, attitudes and policies planned to motivate, attract, develop and retain workers to ensure the effective operation and survival of an organisation. in effect, she policies are intended to improve and maintain a safety cultural environment that prevents and reduces potential risks, and workplace hazards. management strategies impact the operation of the organisation in terms of safety and health management as postulated by asiedu-appiah et al. (2013: 32). as functional areas of management in ensuring organisational safety culture, they included training and development, recruitment and selection, information and communication and performance management, as paramount strategies. however, akpan (2011: 162) expounded numerous ways of edifying organisational safety culture which include management leadership and organisational commitment, roles and responsibilities, employee participation in hazard identification and assessment process, determination of controls, enforcement of controls and emergency response plans. while the management commitment is acknowledged as very contributory, mihai and sorin (2010: 303) in their study specified that managers had limited understanding of both their legal and corporate responsibilities on safety and health and on ensuring a hazard-free workplace environment. 30 e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 the account of the problem can be derived from the fact that several studies have been conducted on organisational safety culture in the electricity industry in zambia and have overlooked the roles and strategies that key players such as safety managers and top management add to the implementation of an organisational safety culture. management formulates appropriate policies on safety and health, and environmental management systems by making sure there is a conducive atmosphere for safety at work. nonetheless, according to the auditor general's report on occupational health and safety (2015), zambia has seen an increase in fatalities in the industry arising from workplace accidents. the increase was from 67 to 127 cases from 2011 to 2014 representing an increase of 65%. this led to a public outcry on the need to improve occupational safety and health conditions and to introduce strategies that can be used to curb accidents and help reduce fatalities. hence, as can be seen from the empirical studies undertaken, the lack of literature on management strategies in entrenching a safety-driven culture necessitated this study. therefore, the objective of the study was to assess the effect of management strategies in entrenching a safety-driven culture in the electricity industry of zambia in order to reduce workplace accidents. furthermore, the study determined management strategies that have an impact on organisational safety culture, assessed worker's knowledge on she programs and established the effect of organisational safety culture on workers. the study adopted six themes as management strategies that can be used in entrenching organisational safety culture according to asiedu-appiah et al. (2013), iqbal et al. (2015) and byers and rue (2011: 325). 3. research methodology the study adopted a quantitative research approach and descriptive survey in which both primary and secondary sources of data were used in assessing management strategies. according to weigmann et al. (2004), quantitative approaches especially surveys of individual responses, are more practical in terms of time and costeffectiveness. primary sources of data were collected using a structured questionnaire as a research instrument, while secondary sources of data such as articles, statutes, journals and past researches, were also reviewed in the study as applauded by machabe and indermun (2013) of south africa. according to guldenmund (2010), as cited by ganson (2014), organisational safety culture is normally assessed or measured by conducting questionnaire surveys among a group of workers in an organisation. the study utilised a descriptive survey research. leedy and ormrod (2015) postulated that descriptive surveys could be used as a means to collect data from the questionnaire. the survey in this study involved asking workers to complete a designed pretested specific, standardized questionnaire which was administered to provide the respondent with an opportunity to give their perceptions on certain health and safety related dimensions, and as such, this method was considered for data collection and analysis purposes. the study respondents comprised of technicians, engineers, safety managers, supervisors, and maintenance managers, senior managers and top managers from the electricity companies in zambia that were categorized as government owned and privately-owned organisations. the sampling techniques adopted in the study were for purposes of selecting respondents strategically designated based on the roles they play within the electricity industry. hence, simple random sampling techniques and purposive sampling techniques were applied. according to davies (2007) and saunders et al. (2009) purposive sampling helps the researcher identify and target individuals that will be typical candidates of the population under review. distributed questionnaires were 230, of which 170 usable responses were received, while 35 (15.22) were either incomplete or spoiled, which gave a response rate of 73.91% and included usable questionaires and was onsidered as being close to the acceptable range of 80% as reported by branson et al., (2017). the remaining 25 (10.87%) questionnaires were not recovered or responded. statistical package for social science (spss) and microsoft excel software were applied to analyse the data through the use of descriptive statistics and linear regression models. mojapelo et al. (2016; 106) applied seven dimensions to explore perceptions of employees in the steel industry towards occupational health and safety standards in the manufacturing industry in south africa, in order to tailor a structured questionnaire distributed to a purposive sample of 165 employees. the results revealed that employees perceived occupational health and safety standards as satisfactory in all seven-occupational health and safety dimensions adopted as independent variables for the multiple linear regression analysis to assess the data. these were (1) information and training, (2) health and safety awareness, (3) employee behaviour (4) role of the supervisor, (5) health and safety reporting mechanisms, (6) workplace inspection, and (7) workplace environment. conversely, mojapelo et al.’s (2016) study was focused on employees, while the present study was more focused on management strategies. however, to assess the effect of management strategies in entrenching organisational safety culture, the current study espoused six themes as safety dimensions and human resource strategies as applied by akpan (2011). these include (1) recruitment, (2) training & development, (3) performance analysis, (4) communication, (5) induction & orientation, and (6) reward & compensation. these dimensions were applied as independent variables to create a multiple linear regression model, while organisational safety culture was applied as a dependent variable. additionally, davids (2016) undertook a study using the 5-point likert scale to respond to 49-item statements by choosing one answer per statement. the results indicated that a highly positive correlation was found to exist between the themes of organisational commitment and management involvement. the study, therefore, adopted the use of a 5-point likert scale. several studies have indicated the use of a 5-point likert scale in the study of organisational safety culture. the scale allows the respondents to express how much they agree or disagree with a particular statement on the questionnaire, e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 31 the scale is also easily understood, and responses are easily quantifiable and subjective to the computation of some mathematical analysis (leedy & ormrod, 2015). figure 1: demographic distribution of questionnaire respondents according to mason et al. (1989), descriptive statistics are used to summarise data, hence considering that the sample size was 170, the parametric test was carried out for normality (motulsky, 2005). trochim (2004) indicates that reliability is established when the data is collected from the correct sources through the appropriate method. therefore, it was considered that the government and private employees working in the electricity industry provided reliable answers to the questions on the effect of management strategies on organisational safety culture. the research also centred on capturing the relationships that exist between management strategies and organisational safety culture, in order to conceptualise the study. the relationship that exists is inversely proportional, in that when strategies such as the right recruitment of staff, training and development on she, performance analysis, enhanced communication, induction and orientation, and rewards and compensation, are implemented, the rate of incidents, environmental risks and occupational health diseases are reduced. once these measurements are reduced, safety culture in the organisation is increased affirmatively. correspondingly, when worker's knowledge on issues of she is enhanced, organisational safety culture is increased and inversely affects the rate of safety incidents positively by reducing the risks. similar accessions were also postulated by agba (2012), du toit (2012) and by wachter and yorio (2014). in all instances, organisational safety culture was dependant on management strategies and worker's knowledge of safety which are independent variables. further, guldenmund (2007) and carrillo (2010) acknowledged that when organisational safety is enhanced, workers attitude towards safe work is enhanced. this study conceptualizes that there is a direct interaction between organisational safety and the dependent variable, workers attitude towards safe work as illustrated in figure 2. figure 2: conceptual framework effects of management strategies in entrenching organisational safety culture (author, 2018) 5 2 15 6 20 10 40 10 39 23 119 51 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 government company private company demographic distribution of questionnaire respondents totals technicians/artisans supervisors and engineers safety and maintenance managers senior managers top managers factors: recruitment training & development performance analysis communication induction & orientation reward & compensation management strategies organisational safety culture reduced accidents rates and safety incidences reduced occupational health incidences reduced environmental risk workers knowledge on she independent variables dependent variable affects affects organisational safety culture worker's attitude towards safety (positively) independent variable dependent variable impacts 32 e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 4. findings and discussion 4.1 demographic profile of respondents this section analysed the respondent’s demographic information by use of percentages based on counts and charts that were undertaken. the demographic profile of respondents used was educational attainment of respondents and the position or grade held at the workplaces. 4.1.1 descriptive analysis of respondents’ educational attainment to establish the educational attainment levels of the workers in the electricity industry of zambia as recorded across the survey's respondents. according to table 1, it was found that the highest educational attainment was that of a doctorate which constituted 1% of the entire electricity organisations respondents that took part in the study and then from master's degree, bachelor degree, diploma, and certificates holders, as the most attained level of education. table 1: educational attainment of respondents sum percentage phd 2 1.18 masters 46 27.06 bachelor 55 32.35 diploma 50 29.41 certificate and others 17 10 totals 170 100 among these qualifications, most of the workers indicated to have a bachelor's degree (32.35%) and a diploma (29.41%). with regards to work experience, the results indicated that most of the workers had experience for over nine (9) years while those who worked less than three (3) years, were a smaller group. with more qualified workers and reasonable experience in the electricity industry, it can be deduced that the composition of workers are more experienced and understand the management strategies in entrenching organisational safety culture in the electricity industry in zambia. 4.1.2 analysis of respondents’ grade/position at the workplace for easy reference, respondents were grouped into three categories, senior management, junior management and unionised workers. the senior management category comprised of principal and chief engineers, managers, senior managers and directors. junior management staff included engineers, support staff with degrees, senior officers, superintendents and supervisors. most unionized workers were made up of foremen, technologists, artisans, linesmen, and daily casual of employees. the senior management represented 23.2% of the total respondents, while junior management and unionized workers represented 56.4% and 20.4% respectively. the study incorporated the position of the workers during the questionnaire survey to understand the roles and responsibilities of each rank and how they would affect the management strategies that management and supervisors use to support organisational safety culture. 4.2 central tendencies measurement measurement of central tendency using a mean of the various themes in the questionnaire was analysed. according to son (2016), most of safety culture measurement tools employ 5-point likert scale. david (2016) undertook a study using the 5-point likert scale to respond to 49-item statements by choosing one answer per statement. his results indicated that a highly positive correlation was found to exist between the themes of organisational commitment and management involvement. therefore, based on those mentioned above, the study adopted the use of a 5-point likert scale with five scales of intervals that ranged from strongly agree (sa) to strongly disagree (sd). the view of respondents on organisational safety culture knowledge from respective workplaces and departments was gathered to measure the level of exposure on the strategies on she management. table2: statistical interpretation of knowledge on organisational safety culture strongly agree (%) agree (%) neutral (%) disagree (%) strongly disagree (%) mean (n) rank (n) i understand safety and health issues as required in osh act 36 of 2010 and factories act, cap. 441 of the laws of zambia 24.9 52.4 12.1 5.7 4.9 2.33 2 provision of significant updates on knowledge on she. 8.5 35.6 32.1 18.7 5.1 2.71 1 non-conformance to safety procedures lead to punishment. 22.6 56.2 11.5 8.2 1.3 2.12 4 unsafe workplace and environment gives me the right to refuse to work 33.2 26.2 29.1 8.2 3.3 2.17 3 management understands the risks associated with operations. 32.1 48.0 12.4 2.9 4.6 1.90 6 management and the workforce work together to tackle safety issues. 23.5 38.6 11.4 14.1 12.4 1.91 5 scale denotation: likert scale: 1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree overall mean score = 2.43 e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 33 management strategies in inculcating organisational safety culture are very critical when addressing she adherence. the overall mean score for the scale was 2.43 indicating a moderate inclination to the "agree" scale. the mean scores in this study ranged from 1.90 – 2.71 as indicated in table 2 the theme with the highest mean score of 2.71 ranking is "provision of significant updates of knowledge on she". this represents a stronger inclination towards ‘agree' position on the likert scale. the higher mean scores demonstrate that management provides significant updates of knowledge on she and can be deduced that employees have significant knowledge and understanding on she. while the lowest mean score value of 1.90 was found to be "management understands risks associated with operations". this can be deduced that management takes time to understand the risks that the operations of the electricity industry bring about and hence lie in the category of strongly agree on the likert scale. from the above, it can be deduced that workers that took part in the survey appreciably understand and have knowledge on safety and health and the role that management play in driving an organisational safety culture in the industry. furthermore, this finding was supported by the research undertaken by nunez and villanueva (2011) who affirmed that there is a direct relationship between management involvement, safety risks and safety knowledge/awareness to lower the occurrence of accidents. if workers did not have the knowledge required, as postulated in the osh act 36 of 2010 and factories act, cap 441 of the laws of zambia, working under a congenial environment that is safe would not be possible. in assessing the knowledge that workers had pertaining to organisational safety culture about she operations of the electricity industry, it was found that 70% of the workers had a good understanding of the ascription made in the osh act 36 of 2010 and the factories act, cap 441 of the laws of zambia. they also corresponded to have been involved in the she aspects. additionally, it was disclosed that workers are involved in the provision and updates regarding knowledge on she aspects of the organisations they represent. this was an attestation of knowledge on safety and health activities at various workplaces in the electricity industry. 4.3 respondents views analysed inferentially statistical inferential techniques were used to analyse the data drawn from the questionnaire survey in order to determine the analysis of variance (anova) and model of multiple linear regression to quantify the effect of management strategies on organisational safety culture entrenchment in the electricity industry as perceived by the workers. according to leedy and ormrod (2015), normally distributed data that can use the one-way or twoway anova test are parametric. moreover, the data fitted the normal distribution by assuming normality. justifiably, the use of the one-way anova indicates that there were no outliers in the data set. the use of anova based on the literature reviewed in the study was applied by davids (2016) who assessed safety culture of professional pilots within the aviation industry, and his results indicated assumed normality after testing using a one-way anova with a size of over 100 respondents. similarly, tests were used by mojapelo et al. (2016) whose test for normality was affirmative after applying anova and multiple regression analysis to quantify safety perception of employees in the steel industry. additionally, the use for normality in this study indicated that the there were no multiple outliers in the data set and that the sample size of 170 was justifiable to use parametric tests. since the dependent variable was only organisational safety culture, the research adopted the one-way anova. however, their study used seven dimensions of safety culture as independent variables while this study employed five strategies as independent variables for the multiple regression analysis. 4.3.1 analysis of variance (anova) a set of independent variables whose normality was determined using anova technique showed variability in the outcome. the results were derived using spss as shown in table 3. table 3: analysis of variance of the data sum of squares degree of freedom mean square f-statistics sig regression 83, 637 6 12.844 17.325 0.00 residual 128, 434 162 0.702 total 212, 071 168 the independent variables used in the analysis were the six management strategies: recruitment; training and development; performance analysis; communication and information; induction and orientation; and reward and compensation, illustrated 83, 637 from the total of 212, 071. the indicative results showed that the dependent variable, organisational safety culture signified 39.44% of the whole variability of the data. this implies that the remaining 60.56% representing the sum square of 128, 434 in the outcome is considered to be unexplained by the independent variables used in this study. additionally, the p-value of 0.00 is affirmative of the six management strategies and significant influence on the process of entrenching organisational safety culture in the she management systems. thus, demonstrating that there are more independent variables that could have been used and were not included in the regression analysis hence the variability proportion in the outcome. 4.3.2 multiple linear regression analysis the independent variables used in the study and the dependent variable were used to create the multiple linear regression model. the six independent variables were used in the multiple linear regression formula in a 34 e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 collective manner and organisational safety culture as a variable that was dependent. table 4: multiple linear regression estimates dependent variable: organisational safety culture unstandardized coefficient estimate standard error standardized coefficient estimate t-statistic sig. vif constant 1.927 0.441 4.520 0.000 recruitment 0.671 0.128 0.477 5.541 0.000 1.912 training & development 0.153 0.129 0.082 1.272 0.243 1.643 performance analysis 0.072 0.132 0.038 0.586 0.629 1.574 communication -0.066 0.097 -0.047 -0.692 0.555 1.407 induction & orientation -0.423 0.086 -0.383 -5.426 0.000 1.309 reward & compensation 0.056 0.132 0.037 0.493 0.696 2.240 the results of the multiple linear regression from table 4 shows that the independent variables with high significant diverse effects on organisational safety culture were training and development, and induction and orientation. additionally, the practice of recruitment was affirmative while induction and orientation indicated a non-affirmative effect on organisational safety culture. conversely, this implies that an increase in the right recruitment of workers to perform the right jobs leads to a 0.671 increase in organisational safety culture at workplaces. while a reduction in induction and orientation strategies by management tends to reduce organisational safety culture by 0.423. training and development, performance analysis, communication and rewards and compensation indicated varied effects not statistically significant. this was because the literature on the use for instance, of rewards and compensation varied. it could be affirmed that the zambian electricity industry does not reward or compensate appropriately for adherence to she procedures. the standardised coefficient estimates are beta coefficients resulting from the regression analysis that have been homogeneous so that the variances of dependent and independent variables are one (1) (wakefield, 2014). the negative beta indicates that there is a decreased use of the dimension in communication, and induction and orientation since the outcome variables decreased by 0.047 and 0.383 respectively. 4.3.3 goodness-of-fit and collinearity no two or more independent variables with their estimated coefficients are expected to have the same influence on the dependent variable according to the principle of multicollinearity as postulated by wakefield (2014). this implies that independent variables do not exert the same degree of effect on a given dependent variable. the variance inflation factor (vif) should be below 5 for the non-existence of collinearity. table 4 shows that none of the six strategies had vif above 5, implying absence of collinearity between the six independent variables. this confirms that each of the independent variables employs distinctive influence on organisational safety culture. the multiple linear regression technique is used in determining the fit for adequacies. the r-value in this study as indicated in table 5 provides the correlation coefficient between the six strategies and organisational safety culture. table 5: goodness-of-fit statistical analysis r r-squared adjusted r-squared standard error (s.e) of estimate dublin-watson 0.637 0.387 0.354 0.885 1.809 the correlation coefficient which is the r-value of 0.637 was found to be of a reasonably high positive correlation. the adjusted r-squared which gives the amount of proportion to which the set of the six independent variables could explain the variations in organisational safety culture is a dependent variable. from this background, the study was indicative of the six strategies which only elucidate 35.4% of the variations in organisational safety culture; while 64.6% was nonindicative. this implies that there were certain variables not used in the study that were equally important. furthermore, a standard error of 0.885 was fairly considerate for the assessed coefficients. the fit for adequacies passed the acceptable threshold of 1.500 to 2.500 as it indicated a dublin-watson test statistic of 1.809. the specific objectives underpinning the study were namely, to determine management strategies that have an impact on organisational safety culture, to assess worker's knowledge on she programs and to establish the effect of organisational safety culture on workers. various literature was reviewed on management strategies. in analyzing the data, the adoption of anova and multiple linear regression analysis to further explore the data applied six management strategies that include: recruitment, training and development, performance e. m. mwanaumo and m. mambwe / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1).27-37 35 analysis, communication and information, induction and orientation and reward and compensation, as independent variables. while organisational safety culture was used as a dependent variable, it can be postulated that the strategies implored in the study have a statistically significant effect on organisational safety culture. a similar analysis was used by yule (2008) and indicated the need to adopt other independent variables besides the ones used in the analysis. hence the six factors used in the regression could not elucidate much of the total variability of management strategies in organisational safety culture. further to the effects, the results were indicative of recruitment which was positive and induction and orientation which was negative, as being factors that had variability effect on organisational safety culture. this variability could be attributed to the failure of management to induct successfully and orient workers on she related issues to promote organisational safety culture. on the other hand, of the remaining four with a positive indication of the effect on organisational safety culture, the study did not adjudge their statistical connotation. based on the literature review and the research results the study showed that management, in essence, plays an important and participatory role in inculcating the needed safety requirements in an electricity organisation whose ultimate responsibilities is to ensure safety and health strategies are understood and followed by all workers. as a management strategy, aligning the policies and procedures to the current legal statutes and regulatory requirements such as the osh act 36 of 2010 and the factories act, cap 441 of the laws of zambia, gives credit of understanding safety values, culture and behaviour from an individual to a country in driving development in a safe environment. having disclosed in the reviewed literature and the research results that workers are involved in making sure that aspects of she are embraced and updated with knowledge and reviewed continuously, it substantiates the existence of knowledge on she activities at various workplaces they represent in the electricity industry. having noted in the literature reviewed, according to tan and nasurdin (2011) and asiedu-appiah et al. (2013), that management strategies relate to organisational policies and attitudes, training and development, recruitment and selection, information and communication, performance appraisals and retention, they ensure continuous improvement of organisational safety requirements. besides these strategies, this study also proposed that the use of information, induction, reward and compensation can also be used as management strategies in entrenching organisational safety culture and safety performance in the electricity industry. hence, it can be postulated that the strategies examined in the study have a statistically significant effect on organisational safety culture and can be used with other strategies recommended in the safety and health body of knowledge by other researchers. 5. conclusion the overarching aim of the study was to assess the effect of management strategies in entrenching a safety-driven culture in the electricity industry of zambia to reduce workplace accidents. the study sought to establish knowledge of she programs to entrench organisational safety culture in the industry. the study found that recruitment and induction and orientation were cardinal factors that indicated statistical significance of management strategies and had varied effects on organisational safety culture. further, the results indicated that recruitment had positive effect while induction and orientation factors recorded a negative effect. there was an understanding of safety and health process as tabulated in the osh act 36 of 2010 and factories act cap 441 since most of the workers established to being provided with she knowledge. additionally, the study showed that the workers in the electricity industry get fairly involved in she related problems. the study's objectives were achieved and were in line with previous research. the outcome of the study was limited by restriction to the electricity industry, and however, the results can be generalised to other sectors as data collected was only from the players within the electricity industry in zambia. additionally, the sample used in the study is a reflection of the representation of the major companies that are in the electricity industry. it is therefore recommended that similar studies can be pursued outside the confines of the electricity industry in order to attain a longitudinal and comparative study. the study recommends stronger recruitment practices that are appropriate and would have a positive effect on organisational safety culture. the study also recommends restructuring processes during induction and orientation to maintain high levels of safety at workplaces and record fewer workplace accidents. for additional research, it is recommends an exploration and examination of the effects of several other management practices in she processes be undertaken. the findings of the study will significantly contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the area of she and management strategies useful in entrenching organisational safety culture in the electricity industry. the recommendations of this study would also be used to strengthen management strategies and improve operations within institutions in the safety and health systems. lastly, the study would provide the basis for further research in line with management strategies and organisational safety culture in the electricity industry. references agbola, r. m. 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(2015). strategic safety management in construction and engineering. west sussex: john wiley & sons ltd. jcbm (2017) 1(2). 54-63 establishing underlying structures of safety performance measures using factor analysis of data on construction workers in gauteng, south africa c s. okoro1, i. musonda2 department of construction management and quantity surveying, university of johannesburg, south africa1, 2 received 16 november 2016; received in revised form 14 march 2017; accepted 20 may 2017 abstract the health and safety (h&s) of site employees in the construction industry has been overwhelmingly studied for decades. however, there is limited literature, which analyses underlying structures of safety performance measures especially as related to their unhealthy and unsafe eating behaviour. the paper presents findings from an exploratory factor analysis of h&s performance measures. a 10-item questionnaire which was developed after an extensive literature review was used to collect empirical data on safety performance (sp) of construction workers in the gauteng province of south africa. findings revealed that safety performance of site workers could be reasonably measured by two constructs. the two constructs were clearly defined as trailing and prevailing. the emerged trailing measures were named lagging indicators while the popular ones were designated as leading indicators. the results support extant literature which advocates the use of both leading and lagging safety performance indicators for effectively assessing construction workers’ safety performance. the study provides evidence which could be beneficial in the psychometric evaluation of construction workers' safety performance and behaviours on construction sites. keywords: construction workers, factor analysis, gauteng, safety performance. 1. introduction the construction industry is laden with accidents and deaths on a poor level despite its positive role in the improvement in the quality of lives of any nation's citizenry through job provision and contribution to gross domestic product (gdp) (ofori 2012; okoro et al. 2016). despite significant reductions of incidents on construction sites in the past several decades, the injuries and fatality rates for construction workers are still higher than other industry sectors (health and safety executive (hse) 2014; liu et al. 2015). in south africa, there were 9858 accidents and 93 fatalities; in 2011, 8099 accidents and 50 fatalities were recorded, and 258 accidents and 56 fatalities in construction were reported in 2012, in the construction sector (prinsloo 2013). these accidents and deaths, which are sometimes preventable, amount to significant costs to employers, insurance companies and the economy as a whole, with direct and indirect costs such as medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses, 1 corresponding author. tel: +27738626360 email address: chiomasokoro@gmail.com 2 email address: imusonda@uj.ac.za workers’ compensation payments, and higher insurance premiums or even loss of insurability, loss in wages, loss of morale, legal costs, training costs, loss of skill/efficiency, administrative time, and costs to repair damaged property (janackovic et al. 2013; thepaksorn and pongpanich 2014). a recent evaluation of costs of construction accidents from 100 construction establishments found that the amount of r10, 087, 350 was expended on direct costs, while r22, 893, 850 was attributed to indirect costs related to accidents and injuries (pillay 2014). consequentially, it is paramount to improve the h&s system continually to reduce the costs and increase companies' competitiveness and efficiency (janackovic et al. 2013; okoro 2015). moreover, attention to construction workers’ h&s is vital since they are at the centre of construction activities and as such are indispensable. construction workers and their employers must make daily decisions about safety at work since it affects and competes with other performance aspects of the construction activities, which can be either university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:chiomasokoro@gmail.com mailto:imusonda@uj.ac.za c s. okoro and i. musonda / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 54-63 55 related to the task itself (e.g., safety vs. on-time delivery or productivity), or to the worker performing the task (e.g., safety vs. personal discomfort or extra effort) (huang et al. 2013). poor safety at work could result from, among other things, workers’ unhealthy eating behaviours (melia and becerril 2009; lingard and turner 2015). additionally, the nature of construction work predisposes construction workers to hazards which pose a threat to their h&s. such hazardous conditions may include electrocutions, and structure collapses, extreme heights, machinery failure, welding emissions, lead, unguarded machinery, being struck by heavy construction equipment, silica dust, asbestos, and so forth (elsafty et al. 2012). continuous attention to h&s and integrated management of h&s increase operational excellence, profitability and positive safety behaviours. operational excellence, defined as doing the right thing, the right way, at all times, even when no one is watching, results in enforcement of appropriate systems to encourage safety behaviours, and thus generate long-lasting and authentic effects such as reduction in the occurrence of injuries and deaths, reduction in avoidable expenditure on on-site exigencies, increase in productivity, and in fact, morale and motivation among employees as well as implications of h&s are realised (janackovic et al. 2013; liu et al. 2015; okoro et al. 2016). health and safety measurement and management have been given attention in the extant literature (lin et al. 2009) and in the construction industry specifically (hinze et al. 2013; lingard et al. 2013). however, most literature focused on the work environment, managerial and organisational aspects of h&s. few studies have been devoted to safety performance measures related to the lifestyle behaviours of the workers which have been suggested to be unhealthy (melia and becerril 2009). the current study focuses on safety performance measures, which could be related to workers’ unhealthy eating behaviours and explores underlying structures of the measures identified from the extant literature. the objective of the present paper is to determine and analyse the underlying structures of safety performance measures relatable to workers’ unhealthy eating behaviours, as used in the study. by highlighting the structure of these measures, researchers and construction employers will be aided in assessing and identifying preand post-indicators of safety behaviours and performance of construction workers. 2. literature review 2.1 unhealthy eating behaviour a healthy diet connotes consumption of food from all the different classes of food nutrients (amare et al. 2012). eating a variety of adequate and well-balanced nutrientrich foods gives the body much-needed nutrients for optimal health and well-being (world health organisation (who) 2014). unhealthy eating is a lifestyle risk-taking behaviour that impairs judgement and could result in accidents (melia and becerril, 2009). poor nutrition is constantly linked to absenteeism, sickness, and a higher rate of accidents on work sites, and invariably, higher medical costs (kolver, 2012). iron and vitamin b deficiencies cause fatigue and tiredness, reduce work capacity and productivity, and lead to impaired cognitive and physical performance (who 2006). skipping meals leads to hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and causes shortened attention span, reduced information processing speed and response time, leading to accidents and near-misses. according to inoue et al. (2014), health risks related to body mass index (bmi) (obesity/overweight), blood pressure, and glucose and lipid metabolism are a result of unhealthy eating. obesity and overweight are major public health concerns that threaten occupational safety and health and they have a significant positive association with absenteeism, measured as work loss days or spells of absence in a workforce (schulte et al. 2007). furthermore, fatigue can lead to poorer performance on tasks which require attention, cognitive decision-making or high levels of skills, giving rise to increased risks especially in safety-critical tasks (hse, 2009). owing to the physically and mentally demanding nature of their activities, and the inherently unsafe working environment and conditions (handling and operating dangerous plant and equipment), construction workers require proper nutrition to sustain physical strength and stamina, manual dexterity and coordination, mental concentration, alertness and cognition (clc 2014). unfortunately, construction workers have poor nutrition and unhealthy eating habits which give rise to the prevalence of illnesses such as diabetes and cardiometabolic risks (tiwary et al. 2012; thepaksorn and pongpanich 2014). unhealthy workers, partly as a result of unhealthy eating, have weakened the immune system and unstable physical and mental condition, which makes them susceptible to diseases, depression and mental illness, and thus leading to reduced acuity, inability to make quick astute judgements and increased proneness to injuries and accidents. 2.2 health and safety performance measurement according to lingard et al. (2013), h&s performance improvement cannot be achieved if it cannot be measured. one of the most practical guiding principles of the measurability of safety performance is given in the australian/ new zealand standard, as/nzs 4804: 2001 occupational health and safety management systems— general guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques (as/nzs 4804) which defines safety performance as “the measurable results of the occupational health and safety management system related to the organisation’s control of health and safety risks, based on its ohs policy, objectives and targets” and measuring performance includes measurement of ohs management activities and results (dingsdag et al. 2008). traditionally, records of accidents, injury and illhealth statistics have been used to measure h&s performance (musonda 2012). however, it has been argued that measuring h&s performance by the frequency of accidents and injuries is sometimes inappropriate, unreliable and deceptive because gross under-reporting could occur (musonda 2012). also, injury rates often do not reflect the potential severity of an event, merely the consequence; they reflect outcomes, not causes (hinze et al. 2013). others measures potentially lead to an injury or incident and could reveal the state of 56 c s. okoro and i. musonda / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 54-63 the safety performance of workers in an industry (biggs et al. 2009). such measures include, among other things: medical treatment beyond first aid according to elsafty et al. (2012), an occupational safety and health administration (osha) recordable injury is an occupational injury or illness that requires medical treatment more than simple first aid. first aid involves a particular level of treatment (such as cleaning and covering of wounds, use of non-prescription medication, etc; whereas medical care occurs when an injury or disease requires a higher degree of attention and management to ensure a full recovery, for instance, treatment of fractures, suturing of wounds and prescribing and providing drugs to manage symptoms (biggs et al. 2009; international council on mining and metals (icmm) 2014). restricted work, days away from work other recordable criteria include limited work, days away from work, significant injuries or illnesses diagnosed by a physician and lost work day incidents (elsafty et al. 2012). days away from work, restricted duty and transferred duties are related to injuries which are severe enough that workers are away from work, placed on restricted duty or assigned a lighter job because of the injury. supporting this view, the international labour organisation (ilo) 2013) stated that loss of working capacity or inability to perform normal or routine work functions on the next calendar day after an injury reflects poor worker safety performance (ilo 2003). statistics on the days away from work or on restricted duty due to an injury are useful when analysing how much loss is incurred from injuries (elsafty et al. 2012). lost workday or lost time injuries are also helpful in interpreting solutions to lowering the number of injuries and fatalities per year (dingsdag 2008; elsafty et al. 2012). absence from work due to an injury, for more than three consecutive working days, is considered severe and compensable (ilo 2003; cameron and duff 2007). correct use of personal protective equipment according to farooqui et al. (2008), the use of personal protective equipment (ppe) is one of the core practices required for safety on construction sites. it is a performance issue which belongs to self-protection category and can be used to indicate safety performance levels of firms (farooqui et al. 2008; biggs et al. 2009; construction industry institute (cii) 2014). workers face bodily harm when they do not wear ppe (or do not wear ppe correctly). for instance, falls from heights could occur with weak scaffolding and lack of safety belts; cement burns could be sustained without protective gloves and boots while cementing; injuries could be sustained on fingers, eyes, head, or feet due to the absence of ppe, and so on (farooqui et al..2008). prior risk assessment another performance issue which is critical is the evaluation of risks involved in a given task before embarking on it. the identification of the tasks, hazards and the risks of a job before work allows for the implementation of protective measures to ensure that work is done safely (campbell institute 2014). near-misses and reporting of near-misses furthermore, near misses or close calls were shown to be indicators of safety performance ((biggs et al. 2009; hinze et al. 2013; cii 2014). reporting of the near-misses and accidents is also crucial in reflecting workers’ attitude and commitment to safety at the workplace. however, according to masood et al. (2014), the workers may be uncertain about reporting accidents or near-misses because sometimes there is no mechanism for compensation for injuries, and they may blame their luck which made them victims of the accident. the above-discussed indicators relate to construction workers, before or after an incident, and were therefore adopted as the indicators of worker safety performance, in the current study. this suggests that some indicators may be trailing, providing data about incidents after the fact (hinze et al. 2013), whereas others may be prevailing, potentially leading to an injury or incident (biggs et al. 2009). these are trailing, and comprehensive measures were incorporated in the current study because according to atkins (2011), the use of a set of safety performance indicators provides a greater indication of safety performance than concentrating on one measure in isolation (or indeed a small number of random measures). they were also observed to be good safety performance indicators because they are quantifiable, permit statistical inferential procedures and are valid and representative of what was to be measured (workers’ safety actions/behaviours or performance) (roelen and klompstra 2012). the interpretations were observed to relate to the system and its operational context (precedents and antecedents of unhealthy eating) (herrera 2012). in other words, the measures were adopted because they were identified from existing literature and observed to be relatable to construction workers’ safety performance at work and were approved by the researcher’s supervisors. 3. research methodology to achieve the objective of the study, a review of literature related to safety performance of workers in general and construction workers, in particular, was conducted. various sources including academic and professional journals, books, government reports, newspapers, magazines, theses and dissertations were consulted. a quantitative research design was used in conducting the study due to the statistical nature of the study and the objective which the study set out to establish (the statistical structures of safety performance measures). 3.1 questionnaire design a 5-point frequency response likert-type scale questionnaire was thereafter developed to elicit information on workers’ safety performance on construction sites. the identified items related specifically to those measures which could be associated with unhealthy eating, since this was the purpose of the main study. closed-ended questions were used because they were thought to be easier to respond to in a shorter time than open-ended ones and they allow for c s. okoro and i. musonda / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 54-63 57 straightforward analysis of data (hyman and sierra, 2016).the questionnaire, which consisted of 10 items, was pilot-tested and reviewed thereafter. it was necessary to revise some of the questions to simplify the questions for ease of understanding. the final questionnaire had response categories were assigned 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, for “on every project”, “more than two times”, “two times”, “once before” and “never”, respectively. therefore, higher scores were meant to represent higher safety performance. 3.2 data collection the questionnaire was self-administered to construction workers on building and civil engineering construction sites in midrand, samrand, johannesburg and centurion. purposive sampling techniques were used in the study. the participants were selected through heterogeneity and convenience sampling. heterogeneity sampling, also known as maximum variation sampling, was used to include as many construction settings as possible, in different locations in the gauteng province of south africa. this technique was used because the concern was to include diverse views and not about representing the views proportionately (trochim 2006). however, attention was paid to including workers from different organisations (both building and civil construction companies) to obtain a representative population, which was necessary to improve generalisation (trochim 2006; naoum 2007). the respondents were purposively and conveniently sampled. they were purposively selected to include workers who were actively engaged in the physical construction activities as opposed to the site managers and supervisors. this homogeneous group was chosen as they were the most susceptible to poor safety performance on construction sites. also, workers who were accessible and willing to take part in the study were included (etikan et al. 2016). a cover letter accompanied the questionnaire to explain the purpose of the study and obtain informed consent. the respondents participated voluntarily and anonymously. out of a total of 220 questionnaires, 183 were completed, giving a response rate of 83%. the returned questionnaires were used for the empirical analysis. 3.3 data analysis empirical data were analysed using statistical package for social sciences (spss) version 22. the cronbach’s alpha and mean inter-item correlations were used to assess the internal consistency reliability of the scale. factor analysis using principal axis factoring and oblimin rotation was then conducted to examine underlying structures of the theorised variables. before the factor analysis, preliminary considerations for the factorability of data were assessed. the sample size requirement of 150+ was met (pallant 2013). factorability of data was assessed using the kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo) and bartlett’s sphericity tests. missing data were excluded using listwise deletion. outliers were identified and removed before analysis. the kaiser’s criterion (retaining eigenvalues above 1), scree test (retaining factors above the “breaking point”) were used to determine the emerging components or empirical constructs from the principal components analysis. 3.4 validity and reliability various measures were taken to ensure that the variables developed from extant literature (termed theoretical constructs in the current study) and those realised after the factorial analysis (termed empirical constructs) were valid and reliable. through an extensive and thorough literature review and synthesis, expert reviews and validation as well as pilot-testing, construct validity of the theoretical variables was achieved (olson 2010). the cronbach’s alpha internal consistency reliability test was used to statistically assess the internal consistency of the ten theoretical variables as well as the two empirical constructs including lagging indicators (comprising absence from work for more than three days due to an injury, medical treatment beyond first aid, restricted work, near-misses, injury and sickness at work, and reporting of accidents) and leading indicators (consisting of risk assessment prior to performing a task, accepting any kind of work regardless of risks involved, and failure to wear ppe). the resulting values, presented in table 1, indicated good internal consistency of the constructs. before factor analysis, the scale was considered to be reliable and representative of what is to be measured, with a good alpha index of 0.83 (roelen and klompstra 2012; pallant 2013). after analysis, the internal consistency reliability of the constructs tested using both the cronbach's alpha and mean inter-item indices, was equally good. cronbach’s alpha values of above 0.7 indicate acceptable internal consistency reliability and mean inter-item coefficients ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 indicate good internal consistency (pallant 2013). . table 1: population and sample size of the study cronbach’s alpha mean inter-item correlations number of items lagging measures 0.885 0.530 7 leading measures 0.763 0.521 3 4. findings and discussion 4.1 demography table 2 shows the response rates from the sites which were sampled. the table reveals that the highest number of respondents was obtained from the hospital building site, whereas the lowest number was received from the residential property under renovation. 58 c s. okoro and i. musonda / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 54-63 table 2: response rates from selected sites description of setting number distributed number received percentage received building new hospital site (7 two-storey hospital buildings) 75 67 37 office property sites (new additions at basement stage) 60 47 26 trading centre (new construction) 40 24 13 students’ residence (new construction) 16 16 9 residential property (renovation) 10 10 5 road one extension and two maintenance projects 19 19 10 total 220 183 100 table 3 shows the demographic details of the subjects. the highest percentage of respondents was between 25 – 34 years of age. the highest educational qualification was high school certificate. unskilled workers made up 21% of the respondents; bricklayers made up 16% while electricians made up 21% of the respondents. 10% of the respondents were made up of carpenters and plumbers, respectively, and 15% consisted of other workers including pavers, painters, tiler, bob-cart operator, glassfitter, manhole specialist and cleaners. besides, the respondents were also asked to indicate the nature of organisation for which they worked. 48% of the workers reported that they worked for a building construction company. 24% reported that they worked for a general contractor while 18% revealed that they worked for a company that engaged in civil works only. table 3: demographic characteristics of the study sample demographic characteristics response category frequency percentage frequency age (in years) 24 and below 47 26 25–34 86 47 35–44 38 21 44 and above 12 6 education primary school 58 32 high school 72 39 training college 42 23 others 5 3 specific job on site bricklayers 29 16 electricians 26 14 carpenters 18 10 steel-fixers 17 9 plumbers 19 10 unskilled workers 38 21 others (pavers, bobcat operator, glass-fitter, manhole specialist, tiler, painters and cleaners) 27 15 organization building construction 88 48 civil engineering 32 18 general contractor 44 24 4.2 findings from factor analysis before performing the factor analysis, suitability of the data for factor analysis was tested. the kmo value was 0.832, exceeding the recommended value of 0.6 and bartlett's test of sphericity reached statistical significance at p = .000 (< .05), supporting the factorability of the data. the correlation matrix which showed the presence of many coefficients of 0.3 and above also supported the suitability of data for factor analysis. factor analysis was thereafter conducted to determine the percentage variance accounted for by each of the ten items. the percentage variability explained by each of the variables is presented in table 4 and figure 1. results in table 4 further revealed that only two components had eigenvalues above 1 (4.511 and 1.885). the results of the scree test (figure 2) also supported that only the first two components accounted for approximately 64% of the variance. this means that the two factors together explain most of the variability in the ten original variables and therefore are clearly a good and simpler substitute for all ten variables. the two components were thereafter rotated to reveal their item-loadings (table 5). seven of the factors strongly loaded on the first component, while the remaining three loaded on the second. the two components were then adopted as the empirical constructs. c s. okoro and i. musonda / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 54-63 59 table 4: percentage variance explained by the safety performance measures factor total % of variance cumulative % 1 been away from work for more than three days due to an injury 4.511 45.106 45.106 2 been treated medically for injuries (more than simple first aid) on site 1.885 18.851 63.958 3 been asked to do limited work after an injury .815 8.148 72.106 4 been involved in incidents or near-misses .710 7.097 79.202 5 been injured at work .594 5.938 85.141 6 been sick at work .451 4.506 89.647 7 failed to report an accident or incident .330 3.297 92.944 8 failed to consider the possible risks in a particular task .296 2.959 95.903 9 accepted any work, not minding the danger/risk involved .235 2.353 98.256 10 failed to wear personal protective equipment (ppe) .174 1.744 100.000 figure 1: percentage variance of the safety performance measures figure 2: scree plot showing constructs above the breaking point 45% 19% 8% 7% 6% 5% 3% 3% 2% 2% approximate percentage variance of the measures absence from work for more than three consecutive days medical treatment beyond first aid limited work after an inury near-misses injury at work sickness at work failure to report an incident failure to consider possible risks accepting any kind of work regardless of risks failure to wear ppe 60 c s. okoro and i. musonda / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 54-63 table 5: loading matrix of the safety performance measures figures in bold represent the factor loadings the interpretation of the two components showed that positive measures clumped together and negative measures did the same, consistent with positive and negative schedule scales used in extant literature (pallant 2013). hence, the first component with negative items was named lagging indicators, while the second component with positive items was named leading indicators (icmm 2014). therefore, a two-factor model emerged from the factorial analysis, as evinced in figure 3. figure 3: two-factor model of safety performance measures in relation to construction safety performance, general performance measures are leading indicators which provide information that prompt actions to achieve desired outcomes and avoid unwanted outcomes whereas trailing performance measures are lagging indicators that provide safety results, for instance, the extent of worker injuries (hinze et al. 2013). differentiating and using both indicators provide a more reliable and accurate measurement of safety performance (lingard et al. 2013). leading metrics such as level of risk assessment that a worker might be willing to perform when the opportunity presents itself may be modified by the worker's mental state and if this is poor, probably as a result of unhealthy eating or skipped meals, can lead to the trailing outcomes (such as accidents, near-misses, etcetera). also, obesity, which could result from poor nutrition, may modify the risk for near-misses and vibration-induced injury (schulte et al. 2007) and these may go unnoticed for a long time or be mistaken to be as a result of other occupational health and ergonomic issues. therefore, early identification and management of risky eating behaviours and its consequences should be of great concern. leading indicators can be useful in predicting future levels of safety performance, thereby providing information which could guide implementation of interventions to improve and impact positively on the safety process, before any negative (trailing) incidences occur (hinze et al. 2013). more intensive training programmes and sessions to improve h&s could include nutrition interventions to drive positive change (healthy eating), thereby contributing to a reduction in accidents and injuries due to fatigue, lack of dexterity and acuity measures component 1 2 1 been away from work for more than three days due to an injury .946 -.119 2 been treated medically for injuries (more than simple first aid) on site .872 -.009 3 been asked to do limited work after an injury .813 -.177 4 been involved in incidents or near-misses .670 .011 5 been injured at work .651 .289 6 been sick at work .613 .049 7 failed to report an accident or incident .465 .258 8 failed to consider the possible risks in a particular task -.073 .850 9 accepted any work, not minding the danger/risk involved -.036 .704 10 failed to wear personal protective equipment (ppe) .124 .564 absence from work for more than three days lagging indicators leading indicators medical treatment beyond first aid restricted work after an injury incidents/near-misses injuries ill-health/sickness at work reporting of accidents prior risk assessment accepting work regardless of risks wearing correct ppe c s. okoro and i. musonda / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 54-63 61 (consequence), with the outcome of being able to continue working, and thus improving quality of life and contributing to gdp. the study provides support to extant literature which advocates the use of both leading and lagging indicators to measure safety performance in the construction industry. traditional measures of safety, which are afterthe-fact measures that assess safety after injuries occur, have a shortcoming in the sense that it bases measurement on failure of the system (dingsdag et al. 2008; farooqui et al. 2012). pre-emptive actions need to be taken before accidents occur. leading indicators can help to predict safety levels to engender the necessary pro-active measures before the occurrence of accidents. therefore, leading indicators should ideally be included in assessing worker safety performance levels. this is even more important for assessing construction worker safety performance to reduce the risks associated with working in an inherently unsafe environment. also, the attitude and behaviour of construction workers with respect to safety is influenced by their trepidations of risk, safety, rules, procedures and management (masood et al. 2014). although leading indicators may be cumbersome to collect and measure, may not directly reflect actual success in preventing injury and disease, and may be subject to random variation (dingsdag et al. 2008), they are increasingly becoming adopted (lingard et al. 2013; hinze et al. 2013). equal consideration should be given to leading measures. a combination of both classifications to support behavioural changes can lead to sustainable worker safety levels in the long run. the use and adoption of both should be encouraged to drive h&s continuous improvement (construction owners association of alberta (coaa) 2011). 5. conclusion the study sought to explore the underlying structure of safety performance measures. safety performance was found to be measured by two components. the components had positive and negative safety performance measures, respectively. they were therefore named leading and lagging measures, accordingly. lagging and leading measures should, therefore, be used to evaluate and effectively manage safety performance of construction workers. the study provides evidence which could be useful in psychometric evaluation of construction workers’ safety performance and behaviours on construction sites. by highlighting safety performance/behaviours of the workers, construction stakeholders could be enabled to make informed decisions regarding improving h&s performance of the workers, and thus improve the productivity, profits and competitiveness in their establishments. 6. study limitations and further research the limitations of the current study warrant mention. firstly, the study was conducted in only one province in south africa and may not be generalised to workers in the entire country or other countries. secondly, although the safety performance measures incorporated in the study were observed to relate to the nutrition context, and approved by experts, they are not exhaustive. however, other studies seeking to evaluate the safety performance of workers could adapt and incorporate these measures. thirdly, the method of data collection was quantitative. more in-depth information could have been elicited with a follow-up qualitative technique such as interviews. future studies could, therefore, attempt the study using a different approach to extract more information or determine if different results would be 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(2014). health topics: nutrition. who. jcbm (2020) 4(2).25-33. exploring the concept of social licence in the construction industry of a developing country j. c. danku 1 department of construction technology and management, kwame nkumah university of science and technology, ghana received 17 december 2019; received in revised form 26 feburary 2020 and 26 may 2020; accepted 1 july 2020. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2.851 abstract a construction company must acquire regulatory permits and licences before granting project approval. the formal processes do not embrace all the stakeholders. while regulatory permits or licences are granted by government, local and statutory authorities, there is also the need for the hosting or local community to consent to a firm’s activities to complete the symbiotic relationship. this commitment of residents towards acceptance, approval and support for a project to exist within their community is known as a social licence. this paper investigates the application of the concept of social licence in the ghanaian construction industry. a total of 102 questionnaires were used in the analysis. findings based on the questionnaire survey of contractors, project managers, quantity surveyors, engineers and architects indicate that social licence is an emerging concept in the ghanaian construction industry. the result also shows the limited grasp and restricted application of the concept. only 37% of the professionals with some level of familiarity with the concept admitted to using the term social licence or its concept in the construction industry. there is a need for industry sensitisation and education to harness the benefits a company derives from acquiring a social licence. keywords: community; construction industry;construction professionals; ghana; social licence. 1. introduction there is always a relationship or at least a quasi interaction between a business entity and the community or environment in which it operates. the activities (or inactivities) of an organisation could impact negatively on the local environment leading to nuisance, pollution, or interfere in the lifestyle, customs and daily routine of residents. although industries such as mining, energy, manufacturing and construction, contribute significantly to growth and development of a country, they will invariably affect the immediate and adjacent communities. for any business to thrive, there must exist a mutual relationship between the company and stakeholders. consequently, a company must acquire a social approval for a project, based upon its corporate and ethical innovation through credible attitude and interactions with stakeholders (boutilier et al., 2012; morrison, 2014). an informal consent and support by a local community for a project to exist in their community is described as social licence (nelsen and scoble, 2006; 1 corresponding author. email address: jmcdanku@yahoo.com prno, 2013; quigley and baines, 2014; yates and horvath, 2013). it is a relatively new term which originated from the mining industry and referred to as ‘social licence to operate’. mining adverse impacts such as operational dust, noise, economic challenges and perceived future risks can lead to opposition from the communities with the resultant delays, interruptions and even shutdowns. mere possession of government formal licence or observance of statutory regulations is not a panacea for project success. moffat and zhang (2014) opined on the importance of companies to acquire and keep ‘social licence to operate’ from local communities in order to reduce unnecessary litigation and costly conflicts. the construction industry shares the same environmental and social pressures as the extractive industry. the construction industry is crucial for the socioeconomic development of a country. development construction, such as high-rise buildings, express roads, water supply and sewages, contributes significantly to a nation’s infrastructural stock, besides other economic benefits such as employment creation (osei, 2013). its university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2. mailto:jmcdanku@yahoo.com 26 j. c. danku / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 25-33. products, including large building and road infrastructures, however, change the physical, aesthetics, environmental and social lifestyle of communities. due to anticipated environmental, economic and social impacts on stakeholders, companies need to seek community acceptance or approval for their construction activities. aside from the formal regulatory processes and licensing regime that construction projects go through before approval or permits are granted, there is a need for informal collaboration between the company and the community/stakeholders. through this process, the company secures an ongoing acceptance of its activities for the entire life cycle of the project. productive negotiation of the company with stakeholders from an environmental and social perspective before the commencement of the project will forestall any adverse reaction or impediments from local communities to the project—the community grants construction social licence. barreiro-deymonnaz (2013) postulated that intense agitations and utter pressures from social and environmental lobbyists on governments would institute social licence into an obligatory requirement for projects in the construction industry. there is, therefore, the need to create awareness and discuss social licence and the modalities for a construction company to acquire and maintain it. when a company acquires a social licence, it does not only translate into acceptance and approval by the community, but legitimacy is established, coupled with credibility and trustworthy. a company perceived by the community as responsible and dependable thrives with minimum work inference and interruption, which could culminate in expensive delays and even abandonment of a project. based on a developing country, this introductory study aims at investigating the concept of a social licence; and its level of understanding and practice in the ghanaian construction industry. in order to achieve this, the following research questions will be addressed: i) what is the level of awareness of the construction industry of the concept of social licence? ii) what factors can guarantee the successful acquisition of social licence? the paper will deliberate upon the key success factors of any process for obtaining a social licence and entities that determine that it has been obtained. the focal point is the construction companies, characterised by building and civil contractors, project managers, architects, quantity surveyors and civil/structural engineers. 2. literature review the section deliberates on the concept and definition of social licence, method of acquiring a licence as well as any possible measurement technique 2.1 definition of social licence all industries, such as manufacturing, construction and natural resources, civil society as well as nongovernmental organisations can inevitably face rising stakeholder expectations and increasing criticism. citing freeman (1984), boutilier and thomson (2011), gehman, et al. (2017) and olander (2007) defined stakeholders as any group or network of people upon which activities or inactions of a company can impact or on the contrary, who can also influence or affect the company’s routine activities. shareholders, regulators, employees and customers are traditionally considered as direct stakeholders of a company. companies interact with other groups of persons other than the immediate shareholder. the broader definition of stakeholders which includes local residents, community development groups, citizen associations, environmental and development organisations has been adopted in this paper. there are recorded pieces of evidence from the mining sector of community opposition, interferences and interruption of work, culminating in costly delays in mining development, and abandonment or eventual shutdowns (browne et al., 2011; moffat and zhang, 2014; prno, 2013). barreiro-deymonnaz (2013) also argued that the construction industry should learn from the extractive industries to conform to social values and address environmental concerns of a society driven by increasing social pressure. it can be contended that communities are becoming conscious and alive to social challenges. introduction and development of new technologies (such as social media and other mobile communication services) facilitate better community engagement, fast and easy dissemination of information and greater networking for effective communication, dialogue, and activism (yates, and horvath 2013). what has become increasingly clear, according to lacey et al. (2012), is that it is no longer enough for mining companies to satisfy the formal licensing conditions. the same can be said for the construction industry too. certainly, no government agency or institution is capable of validly representing the community’s will always on construction activities (barreiro-deymonnaz, 2013). local communities do not express acceptance or opposition to a project based on governmental dictates. how can a company gain acceptance and approval from stakeholders/communities for uninterrupted and successful implementation of a project? cooney (2017) described two sources of risks faced by a company as a political risk at the national level and local political risk. the traditional political risk from the government can be managed by adherence to stipulated regulations; obtaining and sustaining permits and licences. the management of the local political risk posed by the local community is termed as ‘social licence’. according to wilburn and wilburn (2011), the united nations devoted a programme of ‘free, prior, and informed consent (fpic)’ to harmoniously foster corporation between industries operating on native or local communities and the residents. a social licence was developed as an offshoot from fpic to focus on a peculiar perspective. literature search attributed the earliest use of the term ‘social licence’ to jim cooney, who in 1997 first employed the term ‘as a metaphor’ to compare local communities’ dictate to consent or deny operating permission to projects to the formal government licensing protocol (boutilier et al., 2012; cooney, 2017; moffat and zhang, 2014). a few dissenting authors, however, hold the view that patrick james first used the term social licence to infer a company’s propensity to earn consent from community/stakeholders as distinct from obtaining a formal legal licence or permit (nelsen 2007, citing james j. c. danku / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 25-33. 27 2000). the application of the term gained currency in the mining industry then cascading later into other industries (mercer-mapstone, et al., 2017; moffat and zhang, 2014; moffat et al., 2016; quigley and baines, 2014) to include the construction industry (barreiro-deymonnaz, 2013; boutilier and zdziarski, 2017). cooney (2017) contended that the term social licence does not have a tangible legal definition as pertains to formal government permits because it is a metaphor. the uncertainty of the term and its broad scope led to various professions defining it differently. other authors such as lacey et al. (2012); moffat et al. (2016); morrison (2014); nelsen, (2007); parsons and moffat (2014); quigley and baines (2014); santiago and demajorovic (2016); share similar position. moffat et al. (2016) for example, clarified that unlike formal legal licence captured in relevant laws and acts, social licence is founded in societal standards, ethics, aspirations and expectations. the earliest attempt at publishing a prescribed definition for a social licence, as asserted by boutilier (2017), was by joyce and thomson in the year 2000. they proposed that a project is seen as having a social licence if society accepts and approves its activities. other authors share this view that social licence must be defined in terms of the acceptance and approval of a company’s proposed project or continual operation in a locality by the community (boutilier and thomson, 2011; moffat and zhang, 2014; nelsen and scoble, 2006; thomson and joyce, 2008; yates and horvath, 2013). at the same time, gunningham et al. (2004) thought of a social licence as an expectation or demand of society on a company operating in the area to fulfil environmental and societal responsibilities. significant to defining social licence is the need for communities’ or stakeholders’ acceptance and approval, ultimately leading to psychological identification. a project is destined to fail if stakeholders are undecided, withdraw or withhold the social licence. characteristic social resistance and opposition to the project will manifest in protests, violence, boycotts, sabotage or even shutdowns. citing thomson and boutilier (2011), boutilier and thomson (2011) proposed a pyramid model of the social licence that applies the four level/three boundary conditions. it describes a four hierarchical level framework – withholding/withdrawal, acceptance, approval and psychological identification – and three boundary conditions. the boundary conditions start from legitimacy through to credibility (border between acceptance and approval) towards a peak of trust (boutilier et al., 2012; gehman et al., 2017). . 2.2 gaining a social licence social licence is not defined as a process, method, tool or way to achieve an outcome, but it is the outcome (quigley and baines, 2014). it needs to be earned, not issued because it is intangible and unwritten. in order to successfully acquire a social licence, there is the need to solicit inputs from local communities and stakeholders concerned at the early project planning phase. wilburn and wilburn (2011) proposed a five-step approach to achieving a social licence. the company should deliberate on how to meet the norms and customs, then gather information on how to contact the diverse stakeholder social groups in the community. on aligning the customs and norms with the micro-social contracts of stakeholders, the company next engages with stakeholder groups to dialogue on the project and elicit their consent. finally, the company monitors the project proceeding to ensure that it meets agreed terms. in granting a social licence, yates and horvath, (2013) advanced several factors for consideration. they include the company’s engagement with the community, respect of local norms and customs, track record, reliability and opportunities offered to the community, crisis management systems and fair compensation instrument. the methods of acquiring a social licence, according to nelsen (2007), are a form of characterisation, combining several process features. nelsen (2007) further identified several process features with key factors for successfully obtaining a social licence being the maintenance of positive corporate reputation, ensuring open communication between all stakeholders, going beyond legal and regulatory compliance, need to educate local stakeholders about the project and employing innovation and technology to minimise negative impacts. the rest are workforce training, understanding culture, customs and local vocation, responsible local stakeholder compensation, enabling corporate transparency, and meeting sustainable development criteria. thus, a company cannot induce the community with monetary favours nor apply to any government entity in pursuance to a social licence (lassonde, 2003, cited by nelsen and scoble, 2006). ultimately, a company which is denied the social licence will experience negative ramifications as opposed to the serene and cooperative working environment enjoyed under this licence. 2.3 can social licence be measured? social licence is considered intangible, but some measurement techniques are available for testing the level of acceptance, withdrawal, approval or identification with the project. its dynamic nature means that there are different degrees of social licence. at the highest sociopolitical risk, social licence is withdrawn or withheld (lowest level). the next higher levels are acceptance or tolerance (bare minimum) and approval or support (high social licence). the apex with very low socio-political risk is characterised as psychological identification (highest). boutilier and thomson (2011) developed the four-level–three boundary conditions model. it was based on a series of statements administered in a survey to stakeholders. factor analysis technique was used to calculate the social licence. others such as lockie et al. (2009) and moffat and zhang (2014), also used a similar longitudinal assessing tool to measure and modelled the critical elements of social licence in the mining industry. it can be deduced that social licence can be measured to an extent, but no direct application has been found in the construction industry. 2.4 relationship between social licence and social value social value refers to services and works provided by an organisation to communities in which it carries out its business. closely related to this is corporate social responsibility (csr) which is a form of investment and a public relations exercise for corporations (browne et al. 28 j. c. danku / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 25-33. 2011) which is generally considered as non-statutory company informal codes of activities undertaken to foster social good towards community and non-contractual stakeholders (browne et al., 2009; mcwilliams al et., 2006;). the concept of social licence is different from social value or ideas. the latter refers to the contribution of a business to the economic improvement of the community (daniel and pasquire, 2019). it thus aims to enhance societal goals of altruism, volunteerism and philanthropy. whereas a social licence is given by the local community based on acceptance and approval of the company, corporate social responsibility originates from the company to serve as social and public relation stunt. 3. research methodology the construction professionals’ perception and level of comprehension of the concept of social licence, attainment process, and maintain protocol are fundamental to its success. although local communities and other stakeholders are the grantors of social licence, construction companies need to recognise and understand the procedural path for effective collaboration with immediate communities. the survey focused on ghanaian construction companies’ and professionals’ conceptualisation of the term social licence and identified the key factors necessary to obtain it. the survey research strategy of exploratory and descriptive was adopted (denzin and lincoln, 2000; saunders et al., 2009). this allowed for the collection of quantitative data using a closed-ended questionnaire, descriptive analysis and inferential statistics. the survey was designed to mimic an opinion poll to gain the awareness, understanding and perception of construction professionals of social licence in the construction industry. nelsen (2005 and 2007) identified a list of important process features for acquiring a social licence by participants such as financiers, explorers, producers and suppliers in the mining industry. other authors, including moffat et al. (2016), nelsen and scoble (2006), quigley and baines (2014), santiago and demajorovic (2016) and thomson joyce (2008) also adopted this form of characterisation for testing companies’ realisation of social licence. ten important features for acquiring a social licence, as derived from these sources, were included in the questions for respondents to rate. other questions related to how a company could establish that it has obtained a social licence and what entities determine that this licence has been obtained. self-administered sets of questionnaires were purposively distributed through internet-mediated, and delivery and collection processes to building and civil contractors, project managers, architects, civil/structural engineers and quantity surveyors in the two major regions with the largest cities of accra and kumasi. there is a large concentration of construction professionals in these regions (over 70% association of building and civil engineering contractors of ghana). the major construction professionals such as project managers, quantity surveyors, architects and engineers (structural/services) working in general building works, civil engineering works and construction consultancies took part in the survey. respondents took part in the study voluntarily and anonymously. they were not supposed to indicate their addresses or any other form of identification on the questionnaire. all company and personal addresses were treated confidentially. a total of 160 questionnaires were issued, and the response rate was 64%. one hundred and fifteen were returned out of which 102 questionnaires were adjudged as responsive and used in the analysis. thirty-eight responses were received from the internetmediated sources out of which five were non-responsive. the hand-delivered questionnaires returned 77 responses; 69 were completed correctly, and eight were rejected. table 1 shows the profile of respondents. the surveyed professionals were engaged in general building works (33%), civil engineering works (12%) and building/civil engineering works (55%). in ghana, class a contractors are engaged in roads, airports, and related structures while class d contactors undertake general building works. equipment owned and human resources, contractors are also classified into financial categories 1 to 4, with tier one contractors having no limit on the contract they can tender for, based on their financial capacity. financial class 2 contractors cannot handle works above us$ 500,000, while the limit of class 3 contractors is us$ 200,000. construction consultancy services include architectural, quantity surveying, structural and services engineering. this group represented the largest professionals (40), who took part in the survey. it was followed by d1k1 and a1b1 contractors with 32% and 12% respectively. majority of respondents (about 90%) had over five years of working experience; in fact, 30% have been working in the industry for at least sixteen years. table 1: respondents’ profile characteristics frequency percentage type of construction work general building works 34 33.3 civil engineering works 12 11.8 building/civil engineering works 56 54.9 profession project manager 13 12.7 quantity surveyor 61 59.8 engineer 16 15.7 architect 8 7.8 others 4 3.9 company classification of respondent d1k1 32 31.4 d2k2 5 4.9 d3k3 2 2 consultancy services 40 39.2 a1b1 12 11.8 a2b2 7 6.7 a3b3 1 1 others 3 2.9 working experience 1 – 5 years 11 10.9 6 – 10 years 28 27.5 11 – 15 years 32 31.4 16 – 20 years 16 15.7 over 20 years 15 14.7 j. c. danku / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 25-33. 29 consequently, these respondents are experienced and conversant with dealings in the construction industry to contribute to the study. data analysis was carried out by the use of relative importance index technique to rank the factors for obtaining a social licence. the other results have been displayed using bar charts. 4. results the results are presented to follow the key issues under consideration. the presentation is structured into four sections under ‘construction industry awareness of the concept of social licence’, ‘success factors for social licence acquisition’, ‘methods of acquiring social licence’ and ‘identifying entities that determine if a social licence has been obtained’. 4.1 construction industry awareness of the concept of social licence in order to test the construction industry’s awareness of the concept of social licence, selected categories of professionals were asked about their familiarity with the concept. 53% out of the total of 102 respondents were familiar with this concept within the context of the construction industry. the 52% familiarity level cannot be considered as substantially high. it is also not comparable to the 78% awareness level for a mining industry survey conducted in canada by nelsen (2007). besides, familiarity with a term does not necessarily translate into cogent understanding or active practice. this position was reinforced from their responses to a further question seeking to investigate the present applicability of social licence. only 37% responded in the affirmative to currently using the term or applying its concept in their organisations. 4.2 success factors for social licence acquisition in order to test the understanding of the construction participants on the success factors for acquiring a social licence, 13 project managers, 61quantity surveyors, 16 civil/structural engineers, eight architects and other four professionals working in consultancy services, general building and civil engineering works (see table 1) were requested to rate ten key success factors for obtaining a social licence. the factors were adopted from nelsen (2005 and 2007) and include ‘maintenance of positive corporate reputation’, ‘ensuring open communication between all stakeholders’, ‘going beyond legal and regulatory compliance’, ‘need to educate local stakeholders about the project’ and ‘employing innovation and technology to minimise negative impacts’. the rest are ‘workforce training’, ‘understanding culture, customs and local vocation’, ‘responsible local stakeholder compensation’, ‘enabling corporate transparency’ and ‘meeting sustainable development criteria’. views of the selected professionals were sought using a five-point likert-style rating scale to solicit for the level of importance of the factors. measurement of internal consistency and reliability produced a cronbach’s alpha of 0.991. this high value means that the set of ten factors are closely related and intrinsically important for acquiring a social licence. table 2: success factors for acquisition of social licence s/n factors for obtaining a social licence ∑w std. dev rii rank 1. need to educate local stakeholders about the project 417 0.924 0.818 1st 2. understanding culture, customs and local vocation 414 0.963 0.812 2nd 3. ensure open communication between all stakeholders 406 0.954 0.796 3rd 4. meeting sustainable development criteria 403 1.084 0.790 4th 5. workforce training 401 0.926 0.786 5th 6. enabling corporate transparency 401 1.046 0.786 6th 7. maintenance of positive corporate reputation 400 1.059 0.784 7th 8. employing innovation and technology to minimise negative impacts 393 0.927 0.771 8th 9. responsible local stakeholder compensation 381 0.984 0.747 9th 10. going beyond legal and regulatory compliance 365 1.264 0.716 10th analysis of the identifiable features necessary for the acquisition of social licence was by relative importance index (rii) ranking based on the mean scores. this method supports the contribution of a variable to the prediction of a criteria variable, independently and in combination with other variables (johnson and lebreton, 2004). a set of the ranking which was based on rii is submitted in table 2. the factor, ‘need to educate local stakeholders about the project’ was ranked premium with an rii of 0.818. this was closely followed by ‘understanding culture, customs and local vocation’ and ‘ensure open communication between all stakeholders’ with 0.812 and 0.792 rii respectively. the least ranked factor was ‘going beyond legal and regulatory compliance’ (0.726). 4.3 methods of acquiring a social licence respondents’ understanding of local stakeholder contributions towards social licence attainment was also tested. in response to a question on the importance of local stakeholders to acquiring a social licence, except for nine, all 102 respondents (91%) concurred. local stakeholders are directly affected by the actions of a company. how could a company determine that it has obtained a social licence? nine factors identified from the literature as determinants for gaining social licence were presented to respondents to select any appropriate numbers. the factors included ‘letters of support from community leaders’, ‘media recognition’, ‘outcome of open houses’, ‘receipt of government permit’ and ‘results of overall community consultation programme’. the rest were ‘certification by an accredited third party’, ‘social licence scorecard’, ‘results of a community survey’ and others. figure 1 illustrates respondents’ preferences of factors that determine how companies obtain a social licence. 30 j. c. danku / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 25-33. 42% of total respondents of 102, determined that ‘results of community survey’ would decide whether a company obtained a social licence. the next four factors with 37%, 35%, 34% and 21% were ‘receipt of government permit’, ‘letters of support from community leaders’, ‘media recognition’ and ‘results of overall community consultation programme’ respectively. figure 1: methods of social licence acquisition 4.4 identifying entities that determine if a social licence has been obtained figure 2: entities that determine if social licence has been obtained in addressing the question of entities that determine if a social licence has been obtained by a company, nelsen’s (2007) factors designed to test mining companies’ perception of parties that determine that a social licence is obtained was adopted for the construction industry. project managers, quantity surveyors, engineers and architects (see table 1) were requested to select any number of entities ranging from national government, regional government, local government, construction company, local residents, community, shareholders to international ngo’s. figure 2 illustrates the responses of the 102 professionals regarding their opinion on the bodies which determine that social licence has acquired. 55% of the 102 construction professionals selected local government as the body that determines that a social licence has been obtained. this was followed by the results of a community survey receipt of government permit letters of support from community leaders and organisation s media recognition results of overall community consultation programme certification by an accredited third party social licence scorecared outcome of open house others responses 43 38 36 35 29 21 13 8 3 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 local government community company company stakeholders local residence national government regional government international ngos others responses 56 38 24 24 24 20 12 3 2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 j. c. danku / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 25-33. 31 community (37%) and three other entities; company, local residents and company stakeholders with 24 respondents apiece. 5. discussion construction infrastructures impose physical, aesthetic, economic and general environmental consequences on local communities. to forestall any adverse reaction, opposition, acrimony and disruption of construction activities, companies must secure collaboration with communities/stakeholders. social licence is the acceptance and approval of a company’s activities by the community. originated from the mining and extractive industry, it has spread to other industries. the social licence concept is new to the ghanaian construction industry. although a moderate number of respondents (52%) claimed to be familiar with the term, only 37% admitted to using the term or applying its concept. however, familiarity with a concept does not translate automatically into an application. besides, most of the respondents might misconstrue the term with social value or corporate social responsibility. social value refers to services and works provided by an organisation to communities in which it plies its business. while corporate social responsibility can be looked at from a company’s self-serving public relations or philanthropic view with little say from the community, social licence deals with the community’s acceptance or consent to a company’s project. a further study will probe the distinction between a social licence and other social values and corporate social responsibility. currently, there is an average level of familiarity with the term in the ghanaian construction industry. project success is contingent on the construction company establishing a sustainable mutual relationship with local communities and stakeholders. social licence acquisition process entails several related features. high cronbach’s alpha (0.991) confirmed the internal consistency and reliability of these key success factors rated by construction professionals. this is supported by the fact that the last-ranked factor, ‘going beyond legal and regulatory compliance’ had a relative importance index of 0.716 relatively close to 0.818 for the highestranked (table 2). the top three ranked factors of ‘need to educate local stakeholders about the project’, ‘understanding culture, customs and local vocation’, and ‘ensure open communication between all stakeholders’ compared well with similar work by nelsen (2007) in the canadian mining industry. the factor, ‘understanding culture, customs and local vocation’, was however ranked uppermost instead of ‘need to educate local stakeholders about the project’. meeting and educating stakeholders on the need and importance of the project through consultative and townhall assemblies, a homage to elders and leaders, used of flyers, social media, and other advertisement media, as well as observance of local norms and culture will boost the acquisition process. ‘meeting sustainable development criteria’, ‘workforce training’, ‘enabling corporate transparency’ and ‘maintenance of positive corporate reputation' were ranked between fourth and seventh, respectively. sustainable development which refers to a system of development that ensures economic growth, environmental awareness and social attachment of current and future generations (brundland 1987, cited by luke 2016) has become a critical benchmark in the construction industry. companies must plan and strive to operate their activities in ways that support and contribute to the development of sustainable local communities. the entire workforce requires constant periodic training to set them abreast with current progressive technologies and working techniques. progressive workers will endear themselves to the communities, culminating in the maintenance of a social licence. openness and fair dealings promote community trust in the company. the ultimate factors essential for achieving social licence were ‘employing innovation and technology to minimise negative impacts’ (rii 0.771), ‘responsible local stakeholder compensation’ (rii 0.747), and ‘going beyond legal and regulatory compliance’ (rii 0.716). improved technology and innovative construction systems reduce the social, environmental and economic impacts on the stakeholders. these, together with adequate compensation and informal social services provision by companies, can serve as a panacea for gaining a social licence. a company determines that it has obtained a social licence based on the ‘results of a community survey’, ‘receipt of government permit’, ‘letters of support from community leaders’, ‘media recognition’ and ‘results of overall community consultation programme’ (figure 1). there is a need for interaction between the company and local stakeholders if the former is to be assured of a social licence. the high rating accorded ‘media recognition’ is surprising and in contrast to other studies in the mining industry. similarly, only eight out of the 102 respondents selected ‘outcome of open house’ as a key determinant to obtaining a social licence. the findings indicated that the number of professionals who elected that the local government determines that a social licence has been obtained more than doubled that for the company. although the local government could also determine that a social licence has been obtained, the large response rate could indicate a misconception with the formal licence, which is also obtainable at local government... 6. conclusions the level of familiarity of construction professionals with the concept of social licence was found to be moderate. besides, a relatively low proportion of respondents admitted to using the term in their organisations. when the misconception of the term as being synonymous to corporate social responsibility is factored into the discussion, then it can be deduced that there is a low application of the concept. the respondents identified with the ten success factors for the acquisition of the social licence. the ranking of the ‘need to educate local stakeholders about the project’ as paramount underscores the collaborative bonding between the company and community. the need to understand the culture and customs as well as open communication between all stakeholders also rated high on the scale of success factors. a company recognises that it has obtained a social licence through community consultative 32 j. c. danku / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 25-33. programme and survey, supports from community and media recognition. social licence is an emerging concept in the ghanaian construction industry. the results showed that the industry has a limited grasp of the term and restricted application of its concept. there is a need for industry education to harness the benefits of social licence acquisition to the company. when the concept of a social licence becomes the mainstay of the construction industry, individual companies will harness the benefits, thereby cascading into the overall growth of the industry. these benefits will manifest in community acceptance, non-interference and uninterrupted in work which could culminate in costly delays and abandonment of projects. acceptance of companies by stakeholders and collaboration thereof will foster fertile production working environment. the scope of this exploratory work was limited to the general perceptions of construction contractors and professionals. it portrayed only the construction industry’s viewpoint. the 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received in revised form 19 march 2019, 17may 2019, 7 june 2019; accepted 14 june 2019. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.2.668 abstract the malaysian construction industry often acts as a vehicle that motivates' the development of the nation's economy. the industry is commonly referred to as a catalyst for development. however, poor performance in terms of productivity and quality systems has been the main issues of discussion from most of the government reports. in order to improve performance in the malaysian construction industry, the introduction of the occupational safety and health act (osha) in 1994 has made all industries in malaysia to identify hazards, conduct risk assessment and control those risk and at the same time implement an integrated system to ensure consistency and better performance of projects in malaysian industries. therefore, in this paper, the ranking of specific factors affecting contractors' risk attitudes in the malaysian construction industry was assessed. a review of relevant literature was undertaken to identify the factors influencing contractors' risk attitudes. the study found that the four leading specific factors influencing contractors risk attitude in the malaysian construction industry are; project related factors, working capital, human-related factors, and external environment. the study confirms the individual factors that affect the contractor's risk attitudes. knowledge of these factors will facilitate contractors' decisionmaking process and serve as a useful reference for further studies in the field of construction project management. keywords: contractor's risk attitude, malaysia, risk attitude, risk management 1. introduction in malaysia, the construction industry is one of the most significant sectors that have significantly and rapidly contributed to the country's economic growth. according to the construction industry development board (cidb) in malaysia, the construction industry attained rm170 billion and rm180 billion value of projects in the year 2017 and 2018, respectively. the projects included the construction sector, agriculture sector, mining and quarrying sector, manufacturing sector and services sector. implementing projects on schedule is problematic in the undefined, complex, multiparty, and dynamic environment of construction projects (cidb, 2017). because of this, the industry is always open to conflicts and disputes. it is common for some stakeholders claiming for imperfect work, delayed completion and changes of scope (adeleke et al., 2018). the cidb malaysia, which is an organization established with the primary function of developing, improving and expanding the malaysian construction 1 corresponding author. d.m taofeeq email address: taofeeqmoshood@gmail.com industry, has identified risk and other sustainabilityrelated issues as the top issues impacting the construction industry (cidb malaysia). many construction projects in malaysia in the process of initiating, planning, controlling, executing and closing have experienced high risks. besides, the risk level during the construction phase is recognized as a risk higher than that of the economic sector. the project management institute (pmi, 2008) stated that risk is an uncertain condition which has an undesirable influence on the goal of a project. risk management involves proactive means of combating possible future risks rather than being reactive. it is imperative to evaluate the main and common risks which could impact negatively on the goals of the construction project. to improve performance in the malaysia construction industry, the government enacted the occupational safety and health act (osha) in 1994. under this act, all sectors in malaysia are required to identify hazards, conduct a risk assessment and control those risk and at the same time implement an integrated system to ensure consistency and better performance of university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.2.668 60 d.m taofeeq and a.q adeleke / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2).59-67 projects (razak et al., 2013). though there is a development of safety performance and increase in safety awareness in the construction industry, the risk level is still one of the highest across all sectors. the contractor's risk decision making is fundamental to construction risk management. throughout construction projects development, particularly in the design stage, the participants are challenged with huge risk decision-making problems, which are addressed through recognizing, analysing and responding to possible risks, and eventually enhancing solutions (jarkas & haupt, 2015). some researchers have identified a variety of approaches that enable a more objective risk decision-making process (jarkas & haupt, 2015; jatoespino et al., 2014; pennings and smidts 2017; khan, liew, & ghazali, 2014)). the most generally useful approaches comprise of the predictable profit and loss value decision technique, the decision diagram technique, the matrix decision technique, the marginal decision technique, the bayesian decision technique, and the markov decision technique. also, most of the techniques presented above, are based on the predictable value principle, which needs iterative decision-making processes for satisfactory data collection. this is because the predictable value cannot be determined from a onetime risk decision-making circumstance. jato-espino, et al. (2014) also established that decision makers perceive risks differently in numerous circumstances, which is compounded by factors such as engineering experience, educational background, individual beliefs, and principles. those particular individual observations cause differences in decision making, making it impossible for people to make the right decision in all the circumstances in pursuit of maximum expected value. it is implying that the maximum expected value theory is inadequate in explaining human behaviour in the risk-decision making process (lee et al., 2016). according to jato-espino et al. (2014), contractors risk attitudes is much related to the decision maker's sensitivities. risk attitude is a chosen state of mind with a focus on those uncertainties that could have a positive or negative impact on construction activities. therefore, people's risk attitudes reflect their characteristics and experiences; it also reflects the economic, procedure and management environment into which they fit. even in similar decision-making circumstances, dissimilar decision-makers would make different, sometimes even the opposite decision and judgements(taofeeq et al., 2019). the individual judgment related to personal issues in the decision-making procedure is presented as a risk attitude, which plays a significant part in decision making. hence, decisions that are made with no knowledge of the decision maker's risk attitude might not be dependable. however, those issues that are influencing decision makers' risk attitudes in construction projects remains unsolved. therefore, this paper aims to identify and rank the critical factors affecting contractors' risk attitudes in the malaysian construction industry. 2. literature review 2.1 risk management no construction project is free of risks. these risks affect the schedule, costs, quality and in the long run, the project objectives. according to jaskowski and biruk (2011), the construction project is pretentious by various types of risk factors, such as accident, weather conditions, location, clients, contractors, subcontractors, staff, crew, labourers and defects affects the project. the studies of sambas, ivan and soon (2007), revealed 28 main constructionrelated risks such as lack of effective communication between parties, lack of construction risk management, lack of material, unappropriated safety precautions and lack of equipment had been figured out as the primary factors. risks related to the contractor's risk attitudes in the construction industry are broadly categorized as shown in figure 1. risk management process starts with risk identification, which is identifying the type and the cause of risks. it continues by categorizing the types of risks and their impact on the project. risk analysis will screen and import the recognized risks. following the risk analysis, risk response design is then developed. during project operation, the risks identified, and their responses are monitored and studied (shirolkar et al., 2017). also, many researchers confirm that risk management is a set of procedures and tools combined with the project management processes (kim et al., 2011; hwang, zhao & toh, 2014; lee et al., 2015). adeleke et al. (2016), also revealed that risk management is one of the significant knowledge areas in the project management body of knowledge because, many parties in the project such as engineers, architects, project managers, quantity surveyors, designers, contractors, subcontractors and clients monitor the risk during the project lifecycle. risk management is an indispensable contributor to business and project achievement since its attention to effectively addressing uncertainties to minimize pressures, maximize chances, and optimize the performance of objectives (shirodkar et al., 2017; abulhakim et al., 2019). besides, construction project becomes more complex and challenging when adopting new methods for responding to risk as the contractors need to consider how to treat and which method is suitable for their organization. however, risk response approach remains the weakest part of the risk management process, where proper management requires the identification of risks in a welldefined manner, which can only be attained when "all" parties namely, clients, consultants, contractors, authorities and policymakers, comprehend their risk responsibilities, risk event conditions and risk handling capabilities (mhetre et al., 2016). a response is needed in every stage to review the action plan. the risk response attitudes remains the weakest part of the risk management process in malaysia construction project, where the proper management requires a practical identification of risks in a well-defined manner, which can only be attained when "all" parties involved in the construction project, namely, clients, consultants, contractors, authorities and policymakers, comprehend their risk responsibilities, risk event conditions and risk handling capabilities (wang, et al., 2011). d.m taofeeq and a.q adeleke / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 59-67 61 figure.1: risk and its environment 2.2 factors influencing contractors risk attitudes in the malaysian construction industry table 1 shows that the majority of the problems faced by contractors are due to resource issues (paweł et al., 2017). table 1: factors influencing contractor's risk attitudes in the malaysian construction industry construction risk groups risk factors in malaysian construction industry physical group natural disasters land surface conditions groundwater conditions uncertainty conditions in the field labour and experts group productivity and efficiency less compact teamwork argumentative workers lack of workforce labour strike design errors skills and expertise design errors consultant group incomplete design data late information from planners owner group financial failure owner change order delay in delivery material group damage during shipment damage during storage low-quality material equipment group lack of equipment unsuitable tools due to age damage to equipment construction process group changes in construction work due to implementation difficulty poor quality of work communication and coordination problems inappropriate method of project implementation environmental related group access to the project site traffic jam disturbances lack of equipment and material storage facilities safety and accidents group the machine is not checked before operating workers do not wear protective equipment safety regulations are not implemented on site politics or regulation group changes in government regulations government policies that led to the cessation of the project monetary instability complicated licensing procedure financial group availability of funds late payments by the owner inflation fluctuation the high cost of building materials the increase in the cost of leasing equipment higher wage than the estimate the high cost of equipment maintenance 2.3 contractor's risks attitudes according to wang, et al. (2016), the attitude is founded on the personality's positive or negative assessment of the consequences of a specific type of behaviour, as well as own principles or knowledge about the consequences. contractor’s risk attitudes physical groups labor and expert groups consultant groups owner groups equipment groups construction process groups material groups politics or regulation groups environmental related groups safety and accidents groups financial groups 62 d.m taofeeq and a.q adeleke / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2).59-67 hence, numerous risk attitudes could be applied, and these would lead to different practices and outcomes (hillson and murray-webster, 2007). attitude can be described as the favourable/unfavourable moods towards a particular behaviour. therefore, it is important to understand risk attitudes. some studies of risk management suggest that professional managers are relatively risk-averse; others question the assumption of global risk-aversion (barr, & feigenbaum, 2014). many studies in organization and economics found the presence of heterogeneity in risk attitudes among organizations, even in homogeneous industries (sathishkumar, 2015; wang et al. 2011; wang et al. 2016; taofeeq et al., 2019). wang et al. (2016) also found out that some contractors in the construction industries were risk-takers because the jobs they do are much riskier than other occupations. nevertheless, this assumption is not compelling enough. for the fact that the jobs they do are hazardous does not mean that contractors are risk-takers. many contractors consider themselves risk-averters, not risk-takers. seung et al. (2005) further prove that people tend to be risk-averse in predicting project return (conventional). they also tend to seek risk in approximating project cost (theoretical), which leads to the changes in individual risk insights and also produces the systematic biases in recasting both project cost and reappearance. furthermore, it is designated that experts qualified in a specific area tend to be less error-prone in making estimates than it is in the case of the learner group. study of wang et al. (2011) revealed that the connection between attitude and decision-making behaviour had been presented in many fields as well as in the construction management area. theory of planned behaviour by (ajzen 2000) is a dominant model that represents the relationship between attitude and decisionmaking behaviour. in ajzen's model, attitudes, individual norms and perceived behaviour regulator influence behavioural purposes, which in turn control the possibility of behaviour that is yet to happen. besides, decision making plays a significant part in construction project management. because of the project, participants' restricted motives. according to zhang & li (2015), what influences their adopted approaches are usually of more risk perception than the risk itself. the participant's judgement about risk is known as risk perception (venkatesh et al., 2013). chen et al. (2016) noted that a contractor's risk pricing behaviour could be affected in the decision-making process by their risk perception. however, there is limited research concerning the possibility of contractors becoming an opportunist in reducing possible loss once a high level of risk is perceived. furthermore, previous studies were unable to specify how the contractors' behavioural decision is affected by different types of perceived risks. xiang et al. (2012) submitted that parties involved in construction projects have been experiencing not only objective risks (e.g. policy risks) but also behavioural risks (e.g. uncooperative behaviours by other parties) which have a high possibility of damaging the relationship between parties. hence, the contractor needs to deal with two types of risk concerning owner-contractor relationships: personal risk and performance risk. the in-house relations amongst the parties results in personal risks while the performance risks are comprised of the entire risks apart from the individual risk (renuka, umarani, & kamal, 2014). the research of sathishkumar, (2017) also showed that individuals with high levels of extroversion were inclined to engage in multiple, risky health behaviours and that extroverts can accept deviant acts more easily than introverts. additionally, extroverts often take risks because of their generalized needs for sensation, which seems to be the goal of risk-taking behaviour. when facing multiple threats, extroverts will be at ease and perceive lower risk. also, the experience was found to be closely related to how individuals see risk (chauvin, hermand, & mullet, 2007). the concepts of interest, intellectuality and open-mindedness are essential traits in this dimension (chauvin et al., 2007). also, individuals tend to understand some complex types of hazards better and thus view certain technological risk as less risky. besides, individual differences like the desire to control and tolerate uncertainty are essential in predicting variables of risk perception (jepson, kirytopoulos, & london, 2018). experience comprises the ability to demonstrate effective observation which has been gained through contribution and exposure to different issues in the process of working on various construction sites (jayaram, ahire, nicolae, & ataseven, 2012). agreeableness has nine facets according to the personality model offered by goldberg (1999): understanding, warmth, morality, pleasantness, empathy, cooperation, sympathy, tenderness, and nurturance. it is closely related to the concepts of nonviolence, caring for others and the environment (jayaram et al., 2012). individuals with high agreeableness show more sympathy and empathy to others and thus tend to see some threats as undesirable. they tend to choose safer solutions or schemes to reduce their uncomfortable feelings. evidence from studies suggests that more agreeable individuals are likely to often engage in less risky behaviour than others with risky-health behaviours. therefore, it is assumed in this study that high levels of agreeableness would bring about high levels of risk perception. the character of contractors signifies a planned, skilful, strong-minded, and operative persona, as well as facets like dutifulness, carefulness, level-headedness, and neatness (jayaram et al., 2012; taofeeq et al., 2019). additionally, careful people tend to involve in a lesser amount of risky behaviour than other people. thus, careful persons are likely to be balanced in hazardous circumstances and to make appropriate decisions in dangerous situations. they can likewise regulate their risk-taking propensities better. the emotional stability dimension has different facets, such as stability, calmness, impulse control, cool-headedness, and tranquillity. the spirit lies in the idea of boldness in many circumstances (jayaram et al., 2012; bamgbade et al.,2019). emotionally steady personalities are less probable to be anxious or to understand risky or unwary actions. therefore, due to the characters linked to steadiness and calmness, individuals will be more risk evading and thus identify high levels of risk. it is hence expected in this study that individuals with d.m taofeeq and a.q adeleke / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 59-67 63 higher levels of emotional steadiness would observe higher levels of risk. (dikmen, birgonul, & gur, 2007). competition and risk are two elements that are regularly used to designate the building business. competition in a marketplace is brought about by numerous participants, who may perform otherwise under indeterminate situations dependent on their risk attitudes. therefore, contractors' risk attitudes affect their bidding decisions in which they are exposed to uncertainties and competition. the competing contractors may have different risk attitudes that are part of their own organizational culture that has been developed over time. different risk attitudes can explain the differences in how firms do their business. heterogeneity in risk attitude and resultant variations in the ways they do business leads to questions about the relationships between risk attitude and project performance. in a risky situation, individuals perceive the situation in their ways, which are affected by their risk attitude. organizational risk attitude is subconscious within an organization, but it defines what risks can be accepted and what risks cannot be accepted within an organization (kim, et al., 2011; planning et al., 2017; cha et al., 2012; chun and bing bing 2016; hassan et al., 2019). usually, most individuals and small groups challenged with a danger with possibly grave penalties are risk-averse in their attitudes. also, companies or management agencies with large capitals are inclined to show a more risk-neutral attitude. the significance of risk-aversion in the policymaking process has been documented in the literature. risk-averse decision-makers are inclined to misjudge likely losses and limit state likelihoods, particularly for low-probability risks that are outside the realm of their experiences. they may resist selecting an alternate decision which a traditional measurable risk valuation (e.g. minimum expected cost analysis) proposes is near-optimal and tend to pay higher costs to decrease the risk, particularly when personal injury is involved (kim et al., 2011, chun & bing bing 2016; waris et al., 2018). according to wang et al. (2011), men are generally less risk-averse than women. contractors behave differently when dealing with small and large projects and when operating in good or bad periods. they are most times risk-averse toward larger projects in lean years and when the bid is relatively low. all of the studies mentioned above revealed that risk behaviour plays a central role in humans' decision making under uncertainty. it is, however, not surprising that previous research has mostly focused on how the risk attitude of decision-makers can vary under assumed risk situations represented by simple lotteries. 2.4 the conceptual framework the conceptual framework describes how the variables (dependent and independent) identified in the study relate to each other. the independent variable affects and determines the effect of another variable. the independent variables in this study are factors affecting risk attitudes; project-related factors, working capital, human-related factors and external environmental factors. the dependent variables are contractors risk attitude; risk-averse, riskneutral, risk-taker. the research investigates the top four leading factors among the eleven factors outlined in table 1 and figure 1 to develop the conceptual framework shown in figure 2 that is empirically tested in the study. figure. 2: conceptual framework independent variables project related factors • types of project • nature of project • size of the project working capital • access to credits • operational resources • cash in bank human-related factors • contractors experience • education background • staff turnover • motivating skill of project team leader environmental related factors • social environment • physical environment • technology advancement contractors risk attitudes • risk-averse • risk-neutral • risk-taker dependent variables 64 d.m taofeeq and a.q adeleke / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2).59-67 3. methodology this study adopts a quantitative research approach employing a cross-sectional survey research design. the preliminary data for this research was collected through a literature review and the use of a questionnaire survey targeted at grade 7 contractors (g7) and the team member operating in the malaysian construction industry that specialises in building, bridge and road construction projects. there are seven categories of contractors in the malaysian construction industry, which are; g1, g2, g3, g4, g5, g6 and g7. the g7 contractors were selected as a survey sample due to their ability to undertake large projects in malaysia. the study ranked the specific factors affecting the contractor's risk attitudes in the malaysian construction industry and answers the research question: what is the leading factor influencing the contractor's risk attitude in the malaysian construction industry? the data collected were analysed with descriptive statistics. the demographic profile of the companies and respondents were examined. 3.1 scale of the questionnaire a likert scale was used in quantifying the risk attitudes of contractors on a scale ranging from 1 to 6 (very low to very high). in this study, the selection of an interval scale mainly the 6-point scale is appropriate because it will increase the reliability of the data as well as lessen social desirability bias. according to kulatunga and udayangani, (2006), likert scales are proper and widely used in the attitudinal measurement. 3.2 response rate a total of 140 questionnaires were self-administered to the g& contractors operating in the malaysian construction industry. a total of 132 questionnaires were received after the survey period, representing a response rate of 94%. conversely, 13 questionnaires were found to be unusable due to missing data or provided the same responses to all the questions. thus overall, 85% of the total questionnaires were found usable achieving an effective sample size of 119. 3.2 reliability test there are various types of reliability test, "convergent validity, discriminant validity, indicator reliability" however, the most used method by the researchers is "internal consistency reliability test." reliability is the magnitude to which items of a specific construct assemble and are autonomously capable of measuring the actual construct, and at the same time, the items are correlated with each other. the internal consistency reliability test of cronbach's alpha coefficient (sekaran & bougie, 2010) was adopted. as shown in table 2, the results revealed that all measures achieved a high-reliability coefficient, ranging from 0.703 to 0.887. a reliability coefficient of 0.60 is regarded as average reliability while a coefficient of 0.70 and above are considered as high reliability. therefore, the result of this study meets the threshold of reliability (hair et al., 2017; sekaran & bougie, 2010). table 2: summary of reliability results constructs dimensions no. of items cronbach’s alpha factors influence contractor’s risk attitudes. project related factors 7 .887 working capital 7 .794 human-related factors 7 .771 environmental related factors 7 .703 contractor risk attitudes risk-averse risk-neutral risk-taker 9 .737 4. findings and discussion 4.1 demographic profile of the respondents the findings show that in terms of their gender, age, education, job position, working experience, company location, the respondents were constituted of 15 (12.6%) female and 104 (87.4 %) males. the respondents are uniformly distributed across all age groups, age between 18-34 are 47 (39.5%), 3544 are 45 (37.8%), 45-60 are 21 (17.6%) and above 60 are (5.0%) respondents were 60 years above, whereas only four respondents contributed in this study were in-between 18 to 65 years of age. the number of contractors that responded is 71 (59.7%), contract managers are 11 (9.2%), architects are 9 (7.6%), project managers are 16 (13.4%), and engineers are 12 (10.1%). regarding the qualification attained, the majority of the respondents (65 (54.6%)) hold a master's degree, 32 (26.9%) have a bachelor's diploma while 22 (18.5%) have a phd degree. concerning the experience level of the respondents, it was found that most of the respondents have moderate experience. a total of 53 with (44.5%) of respondents have experience of 4 to 6 years, followed by 43 with (36.1%), having less than 3 years,15 with (12.6%), having 7 to 9 years, and 8 with (6.7%), having above 10-year job experience. regarding job specialization and company location, more than half of the respondents 83 with (69.7%) specialized on building projects, followed by 23 with (19.3%) respondents specialized on the road project and only 13 with (10.9%) of respondents are specialized on the bridge project. the respondents are located nationally across malaysia are 50 (42.0%), followed by 41 (34.5%) located within few states in malaysia, 21 (17.6%) operate in the international market, and 7 (5.9%) of the respondents operate in the local market area. d.m taofeeq and a.q adeleke / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(2). 59-67 65 4.2 ranking of factors affecting the contractors' risk attitude to determine the level of importance, the mean and standard deviation of each factor is derived from the total sample. if two or more factors happen to have the same mean value, the one with the lower standard deviation is considered more important. the factors with mean values that are greater than the average value of all mean values is classified as critical factors affecting contractors' risk attitudes. the ranking results of these factors are shown in table 3. table 3: ranking of factors affecting contractors' risk attitudes factors mean standard deviation rank human-related factors 3.7407 .56656 1 working capital 3.5616 .49852 2 project related factors 3.5798 .60845 3 environmental related factor 3.4970 .58425 4 the results of the statistical analysis show that the overall mean and standard deviation for human-related factors is: 3.7407, std: .56656, which makes human-related factors to be ranked first among all four specific factors affecting contractors' risk attitudes considered in this study. this is in line with the previous research of wang et al. (2011), whose findings affirmed that human-related factors are not well implemented within construction companies. working capital is ranked as the second critical factor affecting contractors' risk attitudes with a mean value of 3.5616, std: .49852. the main contributors to cost overrun in the procurement of high-rise in construction projects. working capital also relating to interest rates, credit ratings, capital supply, cash flows and rentals. local objects reliability risk arises because projects involve local partners such as contractors, customers, suppliers and the success of these projects depends on their reliability and affluence. project related factors was ranked third place based on the survey results with a mean value of 3.5798, std: .60845, among all important factors. the result is in line with the findings of wilden et al. (2013) who recommended that a prerequisite for high-quality project risk management is the ability to have access to required information relating to the handling of risk during particular project construction. if contractors have adequate and accurate information when making decisions against threats, they are probably willing to be risk bearers, as they are confident and competent in making a good trade-off between risks and benefits. otherwise, they cannot have the right perception of project risks or a clear understanding of the significant risks to their operation. the findings imply that taking a risk without adequate understanding and competence about that risk may lead to an unwillingness in bearing and managing the risk. therefore, project professionals must develop their emotional intelligence since it has a direct impact on the effectiveness of risk management. the environmental related factors was ranked as the fourth critical factor affecting contractors' risk attitudes with this mean value: 3.4970, std: .58425. the level of the risk is based on the probability of its occurrence, the possible severity of the risk, such as the population that may be affected and the health effects. environmental risks comprise of natural disasters, weather, and seasonal implications. 5. conclusion this study has examined possible risks factors subcategorised based on their nature that impact contractors' risk attitude. this study is significant to all the relevant stakeholders in the construction industry. furthermore, this study presents the ranking of the specific factors affecting contractors' risk attitudes in the malaysian construction industry. therefore, this research provides a ground for researchers with interest in this field, to further examine the relationships between the constructs in this study. this research provides a conceptual basis for understanding risk management in the construction industry. contractors' risk attitudes are found to be influenced by human-related factors, working capital, project related factors and the external environment. this study on factors influencing contractor risk attitudes is not the only essential to the academic world but also to the contractors, project managers, engineers who've required the controlling risk attitudes in every construction industry. stakeholders in the construction industry can use the information in this research for developing a strategy on a contractor's risk attitude. finally, this research is not without limitations. the data were collected through a questionnaire survey conducted in malaysia pahang, so the generalization of the findings should be made with caution. future studies might carry out this research in other countries to ascertain if the results investigated in malaysia will be similar. references abulhakim, n., & adeleke, a. q. 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(2013). dynamic capabilities and performance: strategy, structure and environment. long range planning, 46(12), 72-96. zhang, g.m., wang, j.y., 2015. understanding the key risks in construction projects in china. international journal of project management 25 (6), 601–614. jcbm (2018)2(1).33-40 pareto analysis of critical risk factors of build operate and transfer (bot) projects in nigeria b.s. waziri 1 department of civil and water resources engineering, university of maiduguri, nigeria1 received 21may 2017; received in revised form 1july 2017, 18 july 2017, 30 july 2017; accepted 2august 2017 abstract the need to meet the massive infrastructural gaps has led to the adoption of alternative procurement methods. build operate and transfer (bot) is one of the new ways used for procuring infrastructure. in developing countries, bot projects are characterised by high-risk profile discouraging private investment. therefore, it is imperative to identify the critical risk factors inherent in such arrangements with the view to attracting the desired level of private investment. this study employed pareto analysis to identify vital risk factors of bot projects in nigeria. structured questionnaires were used to establish critical risk factors based on the perception of key stakeholders (government, concessionaire, lenders, and developers) in abuja. kaduna, port harcourt and lagos. descriptive statistics were used to obtain standard deviation of the risk factors indicating their impacts and severity. based on the results, pareto analysis was carried out to separate the “vital few” from the “trivial many”. the results indicated nine risk factors as the vital few responsible for 80% contribution. the risk factors include; changes in government policies, hostile general business environment, project company default, time performance risk, cost performance risk, excessive development cost, instability in government, failure to raise finance for the project and lack of experience in handling the project. therefore, for effective implementation of bot projects, it is necessary for stakeholders to focus on the “vital few” risk factors responsible for 80% of the risk impacts. the results of the study may not be generalised for use by clients and contractors operating in environments with different political and economic climate with nigeria as the impact and likelihood of occurrence of risks may vary. keywords: build-operate-transfer, nigeria, pareto analysis, risk factors. 1. introduction the challenges of meeting the huge infrastructure needs of most developing countries caused by population explosion and budget constraints have influenced most government agencies to shift from the conventional procurement systems to more innovative types of procurement. one popular option for meeting these demands for infrastructure projects and improvement in service level has been private investment through concession agreements such as the build operate and transfer (bot). the use of bot types of contract for the development of infrastructure projects has gained considerable acceptance and is becoming popular in many countries around the world. the bot arrangement enables clients to have access to funds for the delivery of capital projects through financing partnership between a private and public agency with the parties receiving 1corresponding author. tel: +234(0)8069636368 email address: shehuwaziri@gmail.com concessions on design, planning, financing, execution and management of projects (amusanet al., 2013; garole and jarad, 2016). dankara (2014) observed that bot had been employed in the last few decades as an alternative procurement route for infrastructure development all over the world. governments across the world embrace it as a procurement strategy for the provision of infrastructure due to financial constraints and increased demand for such essential services by the citizens. bot has been successfully deployed in the development of infrastructure projects such as power, engineering, telecommunication and transportation in many countries like usa, uk, canada, japan, indonesia, malaysia, singapore and india among others (amusanet al., 2013). in nigeria, several projects were successfully executed through ppp while others failed to be actualized owing to problems of the inadequate legal framework, lack of development finance, inadequate technical among university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:shehuwaziri@gmail.com 34 b. s. waziri/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 33-40 other risks (babatunde et al., 2012; egboh and chukwuemeka, 2012). despite these developments, the federal government had in recent time declared and requests for proposals for many projects through the bot mechanism indicating the significance and prospects of the financing option for infrastructure development in the country (mohammed et al., 2012). however, bot contracts have been identified having a complex risk portfolio leading to the restriction of the award of some concession agreements in nigeria. this may be attributed to the use of multiple parties with different objectives (thomas et al., 2006). furthermore, the successful implementation of bot projects depends to a considerable extent on the degree to which various risks are identified, managed and allocated (thomas et al., 2006). therefore, it is imperative to determine and classify the different risk factors inherent in bot with the view to providing a platform for effective risk management. this paper attempts to employ pareto analysis to identify critical risk factors of bot projects that are responsible for the greater amount of risk impacts in nigeria. 2. concept of bot mechanism several types of ppp arrangements have been utilized for the development of infrastructure in many countries, bot being the most common and popular arrangement (garole and jarad, 2016). based on the original bot, different variants have evolved including; build own operate (boo), build lease transfer (blt), build own operate and transfer (boot), build transfer operate (bto), design build finance operate (dbfo), rehabilitate own operate (roo) and rehabilitate operate transfer (rot) among others. these are employed for the development of different types of infrastructure projects in various countries. infrastructure projects to be undertaken under the bot financing mechanism are announced by the government and private sector companies in the different specialisation of construction are invited to submit their proposals for the implementation of the projects. upon the completion of tender formalities, the successful contractor is selected for the contract. based on this method the government then grants the advantage of designfinancing-constructionand operation of the project to the chosen private sector for a specific period in the form of a contract (vosoughi and vosoughi, 2015). at the end of the contract term, the project manager is responsible for the exploitation of the project and the repayment of the principal amount of received loan and interest on such loans from the proceeds of the project services. an acceptable profit will be paid to the investors of the project from what remains of the earnings. the project company may be responsible for all the stages or may entrust the project to their partners based on an internal contract arrangement. based on the standard of the contract, at the end of the concession period, the project company transfers all the project assets (financial, physical and legal) to the government and that brings the life of the contract to an end (unido, 1996; vosoughi and vosoughi, 2015). the concession period is one of the key elements of a bot type of contract which is very significant for its performance. a longer concession period is more beneficial to the private investor which in turn leads to loss of investment to the government (nasirzadeh et al., 2014). on the other hand, if the concession period is too short, the investor would either reject the contract offer or would be forced to increase the operation fees to recover his investment and make a certain level of profit. consequently, the risk involved caused by short concession period would be shifted to the end user or users of the facilities (shen et al., 2002). 3. critical risk factors of bot projects the identification and classification of critical risk factors associated with bot contracts has been a subject of many studies across the world (tiong, 1990; woodward, 1992; chapman and ward, 2001; akintoye, et al., 2005; amusan et al., 2013. patel, 2013; sachet al., 2007; zhang et al., 2008; wang et al., 2000, mohammed et al., 2012; chan et al., 2015; garole and jarad, 2016). tiong (1990) categorised risks in bot into technical, political, and financial risks. the study revealed that political risk has the highest impact on the implementation of bot projects. woodward (1992) considered risks as global (political, legal, commercial) due to wider range and elements (technical, operational, financial and revenue) that are peculiar to a project. the study also demonstrated that both the global and local factors have a significant impact on the achievement of the projects within the desired level of performance. akerele and gidado (2003) revealed that from the myriad of risks factors associated with ppp arrangements, political and regulatory risks have the highest regarding severity index. thomas et al. (2006) noted that private infrastructure under bot has complex risk portfolio due to factors such as lengthy payback period, lumpiness of huge investment, high developmental efforts and upfront cost, the length of term of the loan, susceptibility to political and economic risk, low market value of security package and a complex construct mechanism involving many participants with diverging interest. sachet al. (2007) identified currency inconvertibility and transfer restrictions, expropriation, breach of contracts, political violence, legal, regulatory and bureaucratic risks as key risk factors of bot projects. mohammed et al. (2012) classified risk into four categories of political risk, construction risk, operating risk and market and revenue risk. the study indicated that instability in the political system and change in policy affects the effective achievement of bot projects in nigeria. patel (2013) identified a procedure for risk identification and management and its perception from the indian construction industry players. the study revealed that time constraints and experience of the project manager are crucial for identification of the level of risk for large and complex projects. the study further suggested the integration of time and cost management with the identification process. amusan et al. (2013) evaluated risks cost implication from the perspective of concessionaires and professionals. the study revealed that the common risks associated with projects expected are inflation, variation to works, b. s. waziri/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 33-40 35 changes in judgment policy and the fluctuating nature of the foreign exchange. renuka al. (2014) observed that early project risk identification and assessment during bidding and incorporation in the bid package would assist in the better estimation of budgets and schedules. the study recommended a simple analytical tool for each project task that would assess risk swiftly for effective analysis. chan et al. (2015) identified and evaluated typical risks associated with ppp projects in china. the study revealed that completion risk, inflation and price change risks have a higher impact on chinese ppp water projects while government corruption, imperfect law, supervision system and change in market demand have a lower impact on the ppp water projects in china. the result of the investigation would to a large extent assist in improving the efficiency of privatisation in public utility service. garole and jarad (2016) investigated the risk factors of road projects in india from the perspectives of lenders, developers, contractors and governments. the study identified delay in approval, cost overrun, construction schedule, change in the law, dispatch constraints, land acquisition and compensation, enforceability of the contract, financial closing tariff adjustment and environmental risk as the key risk factors. the study further indicated that the risks are due primarily to the variability of legal systems, market situations and economic climate. 4. application of the pareto analysis according to the pareto principle, in any group of things that contribute to a common effect, relatively few contributors account for most of the effect. the pareto principle otherwise known as the 20/80 rule has been originally analysed by the italian, vilfredo pareto who observed that 80% of property in his country was owned by 20% of the population (reh, 2008). juran and gryna (1998) further generalised this principle and called it the ‘vital few’ and ‘trivial many’ stating that most of the results in any context are raised by a small number of causes. harris and mccaffer (2005) also observed that pareto analysis is a simple technique that helps separate the primary causes of problems from the minor ones providing the management team with a tool for focusing attention on the relevant few. pareto analysis has been employed as a problem-solving tool in many sectors including the construction industry (kado et al., 2016). durnyev and ismail (2002) employed pareto analysis to identify the nature of improvement measures of factors causing 80% of the on-site productivity problems in the new zealand construction industry. the study established that project management, project finance, workforce, and project characteristics are accountable for the bulk of onsite productivity problems. kado and bala (2015) employed pareto analysis to investigate the prevalence of quality factors of nigerian design firms. the study identified four key quality section factors which largely influence the performance of the nigerian design firms. the factors identified are employee training, external design review, design contract review, and performance quality audit. mahboob et al. (2015) employed pareto analysis to investigate the critical success factors for total quality management of software engineering. the study concluded that top management commitment was the most common factor followed by customer service and satisfaction. kado et al. (2016) employed pareto analysis to investigate total quality management (tqm) status of the nigerian design firms. the study revealed that there is a need for the improvement of the status of design firms in nigeria. the study further indicates deficiencies in the areas of training awareness, education and skills, objective management and feedback and use of tqm tools and techniques. 5. methodology primary data for the study was obtained through a field survey while the secondary data was obtained from a review of relevant works of literature from published journals, conference proceedings and fact sheets of local and international organisations. the primary data was obtained using a structured questionnaire randomly distributed to four categories of respondents (government officials, concessionaires, developers and lenders) in lagos, port harcourt, kaduna and abuja. these cities were chosen due to their ample infrastructure projects that have been realised under the bot financing option. the questionnaire is divided into two sections. the first section captured background information of the respondents, while the second section captures the risk factors associated with bot contracts established through a literature search. before the instrument was adopted and administered, it was scrutinised by four (4) experts who have considerable experience and knowledge on the subject matter to satisfy the desired level of validity. the questionnaire was then modified based on the suggestions of the experts before it was administered. the questionnaire consists of 45 risk factors and provides the participants with the options of rating the factors based on a five (5) point likert scale, ranging from “very important” to “not important”. the population for the study consisted of professionals in the offices of contractors, developers, lenders and government officials. one hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires (30 for each group of respondents) were randomly distributed out of which 98 (81.6%) were returned and 86 corresponding to 71.6%were found to be fit for analysis. mean item score (mis) and mean deviation (md) was used to determine the significance and the impact of each risk factor based on the perception of the respondents. the pareto analysis was then employed by developing pareto charts to identify the ‘vital few’ factors that have the greatest impacts from ‘trivial many’ by adopting the step-by-step procedure outlined by haughey (2014). 6. results and findings 6.1profile of respondents the profile of the respondents for the survey is presented in table 1. 36 b. s. waziri/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 33-40 table 1: profile of respondents characteristics frequency percent category of respondent government concessionaire developers lenders 24 21 19 22 27.91 24.42 22.09 25.58 educational qualification high school diploma university degree/hnd master/ phd 0 18 51 17 0.00 20.93 59.30 19.70 work experience less than 5 years 5 to 10 years 11 to 15 years 16 to 20 years greater than 20 years 11 16 19 24 16 12.79 18.60 22.09 27.90 18.60 position managing director principal officer senior personnel others 21 25 28 12 24.42 29.01 32.56 13.95 designated profession engineering architecture quantity surveying building estate surveying others 19 16 12 17 12 10 22.09 18.60 13.95 19.76 13.95 11.63 the demographic profile of the respondents revealed that 27.9% of the survey participants are from government establishments whereas 24.42%, 22.09% and 25.58% are from the offices of concessionaires, developers and lenders respectively. the profile further revealed that most of the respondents (59%) are first degree holders and 19% either have a masters or phd degree. the results also show that the majority of the respondents occupy management positions as either principal, deputy directors or directors in their organisations. these results indicate that the information obtained from these categories of respondents can be considered adequate. 6.2risk factors of bot the results of mean item scores of risk factors are presented in table 2. the results indicated that changes in government policy which falls under the political risk factor is ranked first which is followed by unfavorable business environment, project company default, time performance risk and cost performance risk. the factors considered to have the least risk are an outbreak of hostilities, strong public opposition and inclement weather. . table 2: mean item score of risk factors s/no risk factors mis md rank 1 change in government policy 4.3953 0.7658 1 2 unfavourable general business environment 4.2093 0.5797 2 3 project company default 4.2093 0.5797 3 4 time performance risk 4.1279 0.4983 4 5 cost performance risk 4.0814 0.4518 5 6 excessive development cost 4.0581 0.4286 6 7 instability in government 4.0116 0.3821 7 8 failure to raise finance for the project 4.0116 0.3821 7 9 lack of experience in handling the project 3.8837 0.2542 8 10 termination of concession 3.8721 0.2425 9 11 changes in project specifications 3.7558 0.1262 10 12 quality performance risk 3.7326 0.1030 11 13 variation 3.7326 0.1030 11 14 force majeure 3.7326 0.1030 11 15 inflation risk 3.7093 0.0797 12 16 currency risk 3.7093 0.0797 12 17 lack of integrity in the tendering process 3.6977 0.0681 12 18 change in economic policies 3.6628 0.0332 13 19 production target slippage 3.6047 0.0249 14 20 default by concessionaire 3.6047 0.0249 14 21 nonexistence of legal and regulatory system 3.6047 0.0249 14 22 delays in design approval 3.6047 0.0249 14 23 foreign exchange 3.5930 0.0365 15 24 changes in general legislation affecting the project 3.5930 0.0365 14 25 resources risk 3.5814 0.0482 16 26 error in operation and maintenance cost estimate 3.5814 0.0482 16 27 changes in design during construction 3.5814 0.0482 16 b. s. waziri/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 33-40 37 28 lack of commitment to concession contract 3.5698 0.0598 17 29 adverse action of the government 3.5465 0.0831 18 30 lack of expertise 3.5465 0.0831 18 31 delay in feasibility study 3.5349 0.0947 19 32 changes in demand for the facility over concession period 3.4767 0.1528 20 33 complicated negotiations 3.4535 0.1761 21 34 labor risk 3.4419 0.1877 22 35 delay in settling claims 3.4302 0.1993 23 36 flaws in contractual documentation 3.3953 0.2342 24 37 unfavorable local conditions 3.3953 0.2342 25 38 expensive and lengthy tendering process 3.3605 0.2691 26 39 material unavailability 3.2791 0.3505 27 40 labor shortage 3.2209 0.4086 38 41 unavailability of quality personnel to operate facility 3.1628 0.4668 29 42 inappropriate operating methods 3.1628 0.4668 30 43 outbreak of hostilities (wars, riots and terrorism) 3.1163 0.5133 31 44 strong public opposition 2.9651 0.6645 32 45 inclement weather 2.9535 0.6761 33 6.3pareto analysis to develop the pareto chart, the cumulative percentages from the mean scores were calculated and presented in table 3. the risk factors were assigned the codes (rf) for the 45 factors investigated. the factors were arranged in descending order as required by the principle of pareto analysis to compute the cumulative percentage for constructing the cumulative frequency curve (haughey, 2014). table 3: cumulative percentages of risk factors code risk factors mis count % of total cumulative percent rf1 change in government policy 4.3953 2.6973 2.6973 rf2 unfavorable general business environment 4.2093 2.5831 5.2804 rf3 project company default 4.2093 2.5831 7.8635 rf4 time performance risk 4.1279 2.5332 10.3967 rf5 cost performance risk 4.0814 2.5046 12.9013 rf6 excessive development cost 4.0581 2.4903 15.3917 rf7 instability in government 4.0116 2.4618 17.8535 rf8 failure to raise finance for the project 4.0116 2.4618 20.3153 rf9 lack of experience in handling the project 3.8837 2.3833 22.6986 rf10 termination of concession 3.8721 2.3762 25.0748 rf11 changes in project specifications 3.7558 2.3048 27.3796 rf12 quality performance risk 3.7326 2.2906 29.6702 rf13 variation 3.7326 2.2906 31.9608 rf14 force majeure 3.7326 2.2906 34.2514 rf15 inflation risk 3.7093 2.2763 36.5277 rf16 currency risk 3.7093 2.2763 38.8040 rf17 lack of integrity in the tendering process 3.6977 2.2692 41.0732 rf18 change in economic policies 3.6628 2.2478 43.3209 rf19 production target slippage 3.6047 2.2121 45.5330 rf20 default by concessionaire 3.6047 2.2121 47.7451 rf21 nonexistence of legal and regulatory system 3.6047 2.2121 49.9572 rf22 delays in design approval 3.6047 2.2121 52.1693 rf23 foreign exchange 3.593 2.2049 54.3743 rf24 changes in general legislation affecting the project 3.593 2.2049 56.5792 rf25 resources risk 3.5814 2.1978 58.7770 rf26 error in operation and maintenance cost estimate 3.5814 2.1978 60.9748 rf27 changes in design during construction 3.5814 2.1978 63.1726 rf28 lack of commitment to concession contract 3.5698 2.1907 65.3633 rf29 adverse action of the government 3.5465 2.1764 67.5397 rf30 lack of expertise 3.5465 2.1764 69.7160 rf31 delay in feasibility study 3.5349 2.1693 71.8853 rf32 changes in demand for the facility over concession period 3.4767 2.1336 74.0189 rf33 complicated negotiations 3.4535 2.1193 76.1382 38 b. s. waziri/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 33-40 rf34 labor risk 3.4419 2.1122 78.2504 rf35 delay in settling claims 3.4302 2.1050 80.3554 rf36 flaws in contractual documentation 3.3953 2.0836 82.4390 rf37 unfavorable local conditions 3.3953 2.0836 84.5226 rf38 expensive and lengthy tendering process 3.3605 2.0622 86.5848 rf39 material unavailability 3.2791 2.0123 88.5971 rf40 labor shortage 3.2209 1.9766 90.5737 rf41 unavailability of quality personnel to operate facility 3.1628 1.9409 92.5146 rf42 inappropriate operating methods 3.1628 1.9409 94.4555 rf43 outbreak of hostilities (wars, riots and terrorism) 3.1163 1.9124 96.3679 rf44 strong public opposition 2.9651 1.8196 98.1875 rf45 inclement weather 2.9535 1.8125 100.00 the pareto chart presented in figure 1 was constructed using the cumulative percentage counts of the risk factors based on the procedure outlined by haughey (2014). the broken line on the chart separates the vital few (top 20%) from the trivial many (80%). figure 1 pareto chart of risk factors from the pareto chart, the nine highest risk factors are established to be the vital few (20%). these factors are a change in government policy, unfavorable general business environment, project company default, time performance risk, cost performance risk, excessive development cost, instability in government, failure to raise finance for the project and lack of experience in handling the project. 7. discussion of results change in government policy is one of the vital risk factors which impact the effective realisation of bot projects in nigeria. this is in consensus with the studies of akerele and gidado (2003), amusan et al. (2013) and vosoughi and vosoughi(2015) in which change in policies concerning infrastructure projects and instability in government were identified as a critical risk factor for adequate conception and implementation of bot projects. government's opinion regarding policies relating to the benefit of a project is critical for pulling government's effort toward such project. risks associated with the political environment are common in most developing countries (schaufelberger, 2005). therefore, it is essential to mitigate against the political risk to have effective implementation of bot projects. a hostile general business environment tends to discourage private sector investment thereby defeating the quest for the public-private partnership mechanism necessary for infrastructure project development. the general business climate relates to the economic environment, such as currency devaluation, foreign exchange fluctuation, fluctuation in interest rates, and inflation. these risks were particularly significant for a 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 rf1 rf3 rf5 rf7 rf9 rf11 rf13 rf15 rf17 rf19 rf21 rf23 rf25 rf27 rf29 rf31 rf33 rf35 rf37 rf39 rf41 rf43 rf45 2,5 2,7 2,9 3,1 3,3 3,5 3,7 3,9 4,1 4,3 4,5 mis cumm percent b. s. waziri/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 33-40 39 bot project in nigeria. these risks affect the cost of debt service and the real value of the projected revenue. the impact of this type of risk on bot projects in other parts of the world is evident from the study of schaufelberger (2005). project company default is a vital risk factor of bot projects that is requiring the utmost attention during project implementation. a myriad of factors are responsible for the nonperformance of project firms. it is, therefore, necessary to consider companies with a track record of performance for capital projects. this is in agreement with the study of garole and jarad (2016) which showed that the effectiveness and efficiency of the private company are crucial toward actualizing bot projects in developing countries. time performance risk essentially affects the implementation of infrastructure project within the time frame and projected cost. time performance risk may be caused by technical difficulties, poor management or by the combination of both (schaufelberger, 2005). akerele and gidado (2003), jefferies and chan (2015) and chan et al. (2015) indicated that many ppp projects had failed in china due in large part to construction completion (scheduled) risk. moreover, delays in completion of concession projects will certainly lead to shortened operational life which reduces the investors' income. however, if a project could not start operation as scheduled, the private company would not have sufficient cash flow to pay for the debt and charges on borrowed funds resulting in an extension of operation time which increases operating cost and reduces profit (chan et al., 2015). since bot investors rely on income from the completed project to recover their investment, any delay in completion will certainly delay the generation of revenue. cost performance risk is also a vital factor that should be focused upon while engaging in bot projects. cost performance of infrastructure projects is a desired criterion for measuring success. the cost performance of bot projects is however affected by a plethora of other factors leading to cost overrun which will impact the profitability of the project by increasing construction and financing cost. the impact of cost overrun on the implementation of bot projects was also established by schaufelberger (2005). therefore, key stakeholders should focus on these factors to carefully and effectively mitigate the risk factor. some private investors are not too enthusiastic about bidding for a bot project due to excessive development cost which they may never recover. therefore, it is imperative for decision-makers to pay more attention to this risk factor because its effect on project viability is more critical and risk management techniques are required to mitigate and minimize its effects. the instability in government results in cancellation or revision of contracts. in developing countries, it is imperative to mitigate against political risks, since the most important political changes often occur. before the implementation of bot projects, it is necessary for the promoter to conduct a thorough political risk profile to minimise the risk. every investment is subjected to political risk due to an unstable government and its component, and low foreign reserves. the performance of the concessionaire is crucial in seeking for the fund to implement a bot project. usually, equity risk is related to the performance of the company which is measured by the share price of the enterprise. the capability of the company in raising capital for the bot project is reflected in the share price. the equity investors and other long-term investors will only agree to provide the amount of funding for bot project when the promoter has proven the financial capability of the project over its entire lifespan. therefore, the competence in carrying out detailed and comprehensive feasibility study, economic and risk assessment study would ensure the promoter to be in better position in obtaining domestic equity finance for funding the bot project. lack of experience in similar projects by any of the key stakeholders is another critical risk factor which requires attention for the successful achievement of infrastructure project under the bot mechanism. therefore, it is desirable for stakeholders to determine the level of experience of all key players on the type of project in question during the early phase in order to effectively handle such project. 8. conclusion this study employs pareto analysis in identifying critical risk factors that have a great impact on the implementation of bot project in nigeria. the attractiveness of the bot concept stems from the difficulties many developing countries are facing in both finding sufficient public funding for infrastructure and in attracting private infrastructure investors. the study has found that nine risk factors with the highest criticality index as the vital few (20%) that are responsible for 80% of the risk impact of bot projects in nigeria. the risk factors identified are a change in government policy, unfavourable general business environment, project company default, time performance risk, cost performance risk, excessive development cost, instability in government, failure to raise finance for the project and lack of experience in handling the project. the study also found that some risk factors including labour shortage, unavailability of personnel, inappropriate operating method, outbreaks and hostilities, public opposition and inclement weather, among others, constituting the "trivial many" which is considered to have a low impact on the implementation of bot projects. although this study is based on the perception of key stakeholders, it highlighted the significance and the impact of the investigated risk factors for the effective implementation of bot projects in developing countries. the study further exposed the critical risk factors that play a crucial role in the implementation of infrastructure projects within schedule and planned budget and consequently provided the possibility to carefully assess the impact and likelihood of occurrence of such risk to effectively realise bot projects in nigeria. it is recommended that, for successful project implementation, key stakeholders of such projects should ensure that appropriate measures are geared toward mitigating these risk factors by allocating risk to parties that best able to control the risks for improved service delivery. the generalisation of the results of the study is limited by the population for the study which comprised of 40 b. s. waziri/ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 33-40 respondents from construction organisations in nigeria. therefore, the results of the study may not be entirely useful to clients and contractors operating in environments with different political and economic climate with nigeria as the impact and likelihood of occurrence of risks may vary. references akerele, d and gidado, k. 2003. the risks and constraints in the implementation of pfi/ppp in nigeria: in greenwood d.j. (ed). 19th annual arcom conference3-5th september, university of brighton 1:379-391 akintoye, a; bing, l; edwards, p.j and hardcastle, c. 2005. critical success factors for ppp/pfi projects in the uk construction industry. construction management and economics, 23,459-71. al-azemi, k and bhamra, a. 2014. risk management for build operate and transfer projects in kuwait. journal of civil engineering and management, 20(3):415-433 babatunde, s.o., opawole, a. and akinsiku, o. e. 2012. critical success factors in public-private partnership (ppp) on infrastructure delivery in nigeria. journal of facilities management, 10(3): 212-225. chan, a.p.c., lam, p.t., wen, y., ameyaw, e.e., wang, s. and ke. y. 2015. cross sectional analysis of critical risk factors of public private partnership water projects in china. journal of infrastructure systems, 21(1): 0401-0431 egboh, e. a. and chukwuemeka, e. (2012). public private partnership in nigeria: the challenge of human relation management. kuwait chapter of arabian journal of business and management review, 1(5). garole, a.p. and jarad, g.p. 2016. risk in build operate and operate bot infrastructure projects. a case study of shirwal-lonad-phaltan-baramati road project. international journal of recent and innovation trends in computing and communication, 4(1):192-197 haughey, d. 2014. pareto analysis, step-by-step. retrieved from www.projectsmart.co.uk/pareto analysis juran, j.m. and gryna, f.m. 1988. quality control handbook (4th edition): mcgraw hill. kado, d. and balakabir 2015. pareto analysis on the quality section/factors prevalence of nigerian design firms. in raiden, a.b. and aboagye-nimo, e. (eds) proceedings 31st annual arcom conference, 7-9 september 2015; lincoln uk, association of researchers in construction management, 895-904. kado, d., bala, k. and dandajeh, m.a. 2016. pareto analysis on the total quality management (tqm) status of the nigerian design firms. atbu journal of environmental technology. 9(1): 42-57 amusan, l.m., joshua, o. and oloke, c.o. 2013. performance of build operate and transfer projects risks cost implications from professionals and concessionaires perspective. european international journal of science and technology, 2 (3):239-250 mahboob, t., tariq, b., anwar, s., jinnah, f and khanum, m. 2015.pareto analysis of critical success factors for total quality management targeting the service industry. international journal of computer applications, 121 (14): 20-24 mohammed, i.y. bala, k and kunya, s.u. 2012. risk in build operate transfer projects in nigeria. journal of environmental sciences and resources management, 4(2012): 29-39 nasirzadeh, f., khanzadi, m and alipour, m. 2014. determination of concession period in build-operatetransfer projects using fuzzy logic. iranian journal of management studies, 7(2):437-456. patel, k. 2013. a study of risk assessment and its management in india. american journal of civil engineering, 1(2):64-67 reh, j.f. 2008. pareto's principle the 80-20 rule, how the 80/20 rule can help you to be more effective, about management, http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/par eto, last accessed 18th february 2017 renuka, s.m. umarani, c.s. and kamel, s. 2014. a review on critical risk factors in the lifecycle of construction projects, journal of civil engineering research 4(2a):31-36 sach, t. and tiong, l.k.r. and wang, s.q. 2007. analysis of political risk and opportunities in ppp in china and selected asian countries survey results, chinese management studies 1(12): 26-148 schaufelberger, j.e. 2005. risk management on buildoperate-transfer projects. construction research congress, 2005, 7574: 1-10 shen, l.y. platten, a. and devy, x.p. 2006. role of public private partnership to manage risks in public sector in hong kong. international journal of project management 24(7): 587594 thomas, a.v. khalidini, n.k. and ganesh, l.s. 2006. modelling and assessment of critical risk factors in build operate and transfer bot road projects, construction management and economics. 24: 407-427 tiong, l.k.r. 1995. risks and guarantees in build operate and transfer tender. journal of management in engineering, 121(12):183-188 unido 1990. guidelines for infrastructure development through the bot projects unido, 1996 vosoughi, v. and vosoughi, p. 2015. survey, the necessity of use and risk identification in bot contracts. cumhuriyet university, faculty of science journal (csj) vol36 (6): 290-796 woodward d. 1992. use of sensitivity analysis in build operate and transfer bot project evaluation, international journal of project management 13(4):239246 wang, s.q., tiong, l.k.r., ting, s.k. and ashley, d. 2000. evaluation and management of political risk in chinas build operate and transfer. journal of construction engineering and management, 126(3): 242250 zhang l.j., arthur, p.j.m. and tao. f. 2008. public private partnerships in china’s urban water sector. environmental management, 41(6):863-872 jcbm (2017) 1(2). 11-23 causes of errors in construction contract documents in southwestern, nigeria o s. dosumu1, g. i. idoro2, h. n. onukwube3 department of building, university of lagos, nigeria1, 2, 3 received 2 november 2016; received in revised form 20 february 2017; accepted 29 march 2017 abstract the issue of continual poor project performance in the construction industry remains unresolved, and there is the need for improvement. in view of improving project performance, this study aims at investigating the frequent causes of errors in construction contract documents. a mixed method (questionnaire survey and interview) research approach was used for the study. the respondents for the study (selected with two-stage stratified random sampling technique) consist of 86 consulting and 98 contracting firms that have been engaged in building projects that have more than one floor between 2012 and 2015. fifty-one (51) interviews were also conducted with contractors, project managers and consultants on the projects they were involved on and that provided further necessary information for the study. the tools that were used for the analysis of this study include descriptive (sums, frequency and percentages) and inferential (t-test) statistics. the study found that the causes of errors in contract documents comprise of frequent design changes by clients, lack of adequate time to prepare documents and design management experience among others. based on the findings, it was concluded that the causes of errors in contract documents vary from one state to the other. it was also found that there is a difference in the causes of errors in contract documents based on types of building, services rendered by construction organisations and states in south west, nigeria. however, there is no significant difference in the causes of errors in contract documents based on procurement method except where there is incomplete documentation or contracting organisations have overlapping activities. the study recommended that the errors identified should always be prevented from occurring if cost and time overrun are to be minimized. also since most of the causes identified are related to consultants, it was recommended that all designs should go through quality assurance process. keywords: building projects, construction, contract documents, errors, project performance. 1. introduction poor project performance remains an unsolved problem in the construction industry, and its occurrence has continually led to the frustration of many clients (love et al. 2011). it has also led to profit marginalization for contractors, disputes, loss of confidence and reputation for consultants and eventual discouragement of investments in construction projects. many factors have been traced to poor project performance (mostly measured in terms of cost, time and quality) but notable among them are errors in construction contract documents. to substantiate the gravity of mistakes in contract documents, okuntade (2014) affirmed that errors 1 corresponding author. tel: +234 817 329 1721 email address: osdosumu@unilag.edu.ng 2 email address: iroidoro@yahoo.co.uk 3 email address: onukwube12345678@yahoo.com in contract documents account for more than 82% of all construction errors committed. ade-ojo and babalola (2013) and mukaka et al. (2014) also noted that errors in contract documents are the major factors affecting the cost and time performance of building projects. about eighty-seven (87) causes of errors were attributed to errors in contract documents, some of which include lack of consistency (norman 1983), unreliable and incompetent staff and acceptance of low design fee (love et al. 2011) among others. the problem is that many of the studies reported in the literature on errors in contract documents are not empirical aside being conducted outside nigeria; thereby making it difficult to determine the frequency of occurrence of the causes of university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:osdosumu@unilag.edu.ng mailto:iroidoro@yahoo.co.uk mailto:onukwube12345678@yahoo.com 12 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 11-23 errors in contract documents of construction projects. without an assessment of the frequent causes of errors in contract documents, it may be difficult to know the errors that need urgent tackling. the effects of such errors on project performance may also be difficult to curtail. the situation is worse in nigeria because, despite identifying that errors in contract documents are among the leading causes of poor project performance, studies revealing the causes of errors in contract documents are very scarce. babalola and idehen (2011), olaniyan (2011) and okuntade (2014) clearly stated that errors in contract documents, design errors and omissions are the major reasons construction projects are plagued with disputes, wastes, variation, project abandonment, and profit marginalization for contractors, loss of confidence and reputation for consultants and eventual discouragement of investment in construction projects among others. adeojo and babalola (2013) also noted that errors in contract documents are the reasons for the non-completion of construction projects on time (or abandoned), to cost and quality. what remains unsolved in these studies, however, are the causes of the errors in contract documents that contribute to the identified problems. from the literature reviewed, there appear to be limited empirical studies on the frequent causes of errors in contract documents. therefore, there is need to conduct an empirical study with regards to the frequent causes of errors in contract documents because of the important effects they can have on projects and stakeholders. without a study of this nature, the achievement of successful project performance may be a mirage in the construction industry. 2. literature review it is not only consultants’ errors that affect construction project performance; construction errors also take its toll on it. however, this study concentrates on errors in construction contract documents (consultants’ errors) because it seems not to be a popular subject of discussion by nigerian authors and it also appears to be a major area of error in the construction industry that adversely affects project performance in any country. this was substantiated by mohammed (2007) who noted that project consultants play a major role in project cost overrun due to errors in contract documents. the research carried out in australia reveals that ninety-two percent (92%) of the variation in their construction industry were attributable to errors in contract documents and the consultants’ team share 60% of the variation (choy & sidwell 1991). diekman and nelson (1985) also noted that the largest proportion of change orders and modifications originate from the owner (client) or their representatives (consultants) and these account for 46% of claims in federally funded projects. the study conducted by burati et al. (1992) on nine fasttrack industrial construction projects show that while construction deviations average 16% of the total number of deviations, design deviations averaged 78% of the total number of deviations. hence, the need to determine the frequency of the causes of errors in contract documents on building projects. some of the causes linked to errors in contract documents by various researchers in the construction industry include lack of consistency (norman, 1983), reuse of notes and details of similar projects, wrong assumptions of standard practice, inexperience, lack of clarity and poor interface co-ordination, poor management practices, inadequate quality management, poor communication, absence of well-defined design leadership, unclear project leadership role and lack of design verifications (palaneeswaran, et al. 2007). low design fees, clients’ briefs, quality control, design time allowances, constructability, quality of staff (tilley, et al. 2005), unreliable and incompetent staff, acceptance of low design fee (love et al. 2011), time boxing (love et al. 2000), planning/programming, stress, repetitive tasks (shelton, 1999), limited attention, biases, modification of rules (cheng-wing & davey 1998), unavailable data, memory loss, misperception of data, over-reliance on default values and failure to monitor data (endsley 1999) are other causes of errors in contract documents. barkow (2005) identified negligence, lack of adequate design references, and lack of knowledge, poor teamwork, human error, inadequate design checks, poor communications and complexity of task as causes of errors in contract documents. contradiction of information, untried new technologies, adaptation of technology to human beings, physical and mental conditions (vrouwenvelder et al. 2009), extra works, delays/disruption, conflicts, incompatibility /inconsistency, omission, inadequate detail/description, insufficient legibility (long, 2011), motivation, cooperation, (love & josephson 2004), carelessness, lack of diligence, ineffective use of computer aided design, unrealistic client demands, low task awareness, overload, fatigue, lack of knowledge of changes in standards and not knowing what is required (love, et al. 2008) are other causes of consultants' errors. ortega and bisgaard (2000) concluded that the causes of errors are engineers and architects inexperience in design and unplanned inspection in contract documents. tzortzopoulos and formoso (1999) noted that the causes of errors in construction contract documents are poor communication, lack of adequate documentation, deficient or missing input information, unbalanced resource allocation, lack of coordination between disciplines, erratic decision making, lack of technology and incorrect application of existing knowledge. other causes of errors pointed out were poor design quality, lack of design standards, lack of constructability of designs, defects of individual specialists, changes introduced by owners and designers, inconsistencies between drawings and specifications, designer with little construction knowledge, non-technical specifications (alarcon & mardones 1998), deficient procedures, poor communication between workers, inadequately trained workers, conflicting interest of workers, inadequately labelled equipment and poorly designed equipment (rooney, et al., 2002). as a result of the enormity of these causes mohammed (2007) classified them into management related causes, consultant – related causes, client related causes, project characters and industry-related causes. atkinson (1998) categorized them into primary causes (e.g. selfinspection, education/training), managerial causes (e.g. o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 11-23 13 delegation of duties, change controlling, concurrent working control, communications) and global causes (e.g. organizational culture, economic pressure, time pressure, political pressure and societal pressure). barkow (2005) classified them into technical, organizational and management errors. yates and lockley (2002) categorized the causes of errors into the design, construction, material, administrative and maintenance errors. the categorization of love et al. (2009) was practice, task, circumstance, task, organization, system, industry and tool. cheng-wing and davey (1998) classified errors into the design, environmental and personnel causes. from the literature reviewed so far, it appears that the causes of errors in contract documents vary from one country to the other, hence their enormity warrant categorization. therefore, there is the need to conduct a similar study on the subject to determine the frequent causes of errors in nigerian contract documents. dosumu and iyagba (2013) appraised the factors responsible for errors in construction documents using construction professionals and contractors in lagos state, nigeria. the deficiency in the study is that aside responses being based on the general perception of respondents rather than specific projects; the study was based on lagos state alone. the same procedure is evident in dosumu and adenuga (2013) when the causes, effects and remedies of errors in nigerian construction documents were investigated. it is, therefore, inappropriate to state that the results of the studies are representative of any geopolitical zones in nigeria not to talk of representing the nation at large. lagos state is only one out of the thirty-six states in nigeria. therefore, a detailed study of the breakdown of causes of errors in contract documents that can be representative of a wider area of nigeria is required and that is why this study is focusing on a wider area of southwestern nigeria. 3. research method this study adopted the mixed (questionnaire survey and interview) method research approach. the research area is south western, nigeria. before the movement of the capital of nigeria to abuja, lagos has thrived as the capital city and the economic hub of the country. during that period, many organizations including those in the construction sector had their head offices in lagos or neighbouring states. therefore, for this study, the research area is south-west, nigeria. the population of this study consists of contracting and consulting firms in southwest, nigeria that was engaged in building projects between 2012 and 2015. consultants' opinions were required because they prepare the contract documents of construction projects. the views of contractors were required because they make use of the documents prepared by consultants and they discover the errors in them. years between 2012 and 2015 were selected to ensure that projects used for the study are recent. the list of contracting firms is collated from the federation of construction industry (foci) and states tender boards of the six states in southwest, nigeria. there were situations where companies appeared in both sources; a unified list was, therefore, prepared to take care of repeatedly listed firms. hence, 275 contracting firms were collated from the six states in the geopolitical zone. the consulting firms used for this study are those that were collected from the directories of professional/regulatory bodies which include the architect registration council of nigeria/nigerian institute of architects (arcon/nia), council of registered builders of nigeria/nigerian institute of building (corbon/niob), quantity surveyors registration board of nigeria/ nigerian institute of quantity surveyors (qsrbn/niqs) and the council for the regulation of engineering/nigerian society of engineers (coren/nse). hence, the consulting firms used for this study are 128 building firms, 399 engineering firms, 136 quantity surveying companies and 323 architectural firms respectively and this brings the total number of consulting firms for this study to 986. the population for this study is 275 building contractors and 986 construction consultants. the study adopts the formula proposed by the creative research system (2001) in calculating the sample size. thus: 𝑆𝑆 = 𝑍2×𝑃×(1−𝑃) 𝐶2 (1) where: ss = sample size, z = z-value at 95% confidence level (1.96), p = probability of selecting a population member (0.5), c = margin of error at 95% confidence level (0.05) using the formula, the sample size for contracting firms is 161, and that of consulting firms is 275 (36 building, 103 engineering, 46 quantity surveying and 90 architectural firms). hence, the two-stage stratified random sampling technique was used for this study. table 1: population and sample size of the study location of project contracting firms consulting firms architects builders engineers qty. surv. pop ss pop ss pop ss pop ss pop ss lagos 122 71 120 33 70 20 148 41 54 15 ogun 61 36 46 13 23 6 71 20 32 9 oyo 32 19 46 13 16 5 49 14 23 6 osun 25 15 44 12 11 3 35 10 22 6 ekiti 14 8 36 10 36 10 17 5 ondo 21 12 31 9 8 2 30 8 18 5 total 275 161 323 90 128 36 369 103 166 46 pop = population, ss = sample size, qty. surv = quantity surveyors 14 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 11-23 the first stratum was the division of respondents into consulting and contracting firms. the second stage involved stratifying consultants into architectural, building, engineering and quantity surveying firms. table 1 shows population and sample size distribution of the study.fifty-one (51) interviews were also conducted with contractors, project managers and consultants on the projects they were involved and can equally identify the causes of errors in the contract documents of such projects. the selection of 51 interviewees was based on the experience, willingness of the experts to be interviewed and execution of the type of projects investigated in this study. 4. data presentation and analysis the questionnaire for the study was administered on 436 respondents across the south-west part of nigeria, and only 184 of them were completed, and this gives a response rate of 42.2%. table 2 shows the details of projects investigated during the interview. a total of 60.8% were executed with traditional procurement method, 29.4% with design and build method and 9.8% adopted the management method. also, 96.1% of the projects have architectural drawings, 90.2% have structural drawings, 80.4% have m&e drawings, 90.2% have bills of quantities, 51% have specifications, 86.3% have conditions of the contract and 47.1% have other documents. the 51% reported for the availability of specifications represent material and job specifications. also, the interview reveals that some specifications are attachments to drawings; however it was gathered that such specifications lack details and precision. despite the large percentages recorded for most contract documents, it is surprising to find out that some building projects were commenced with only letters of the award. an interviewee noted that he began the construction of a semi-detached twin duplex at millennium estate, lekki phase ii with just the client's brief. another interviewee commenced a hotel suite at port-harcourt with just the conditions of contract, approximate estimate and trade preambles (specifications). a total of 47.1% of the respondents noted that they had other contract documents at the time they were moving to site. some of the other contract documents include schedule of day work rates, article of agreement, deeds of agreement, soil geotechnical report, program of work, survey plan, letter of award, total quality management plan, bank/ insurance bond, health and safety plan, form of tender, allocation letter, method statement, appendices and trade preambles. table 2: details of projects investigated during interview details of projects frequency percentage (%) procurement method traditional 31 60.8 design and build 15 29.4 management (project & management contracting) 5 9.8 total 51 100.0 available contract document (more than one was ticked) architectural drawing 49 96.1 structural drawing 46 90.2 mechanical & electrical drawing 41 80.4 bill of quantities 46 90.2 specification 26 51.0 condition of contract 44 86.3 other documents 24 47.1 the distribution of respondents according to profession, sector of project involvement, work experience and educational qualification is depicted in table 3. table 3: general information of respondents, organisations and investigated building projects respondents’ information consultant contractor total number % number % number % profession of respondents architecture 15 17.4 17 17.3 32 17.4 civil/structural engineering 16 18.6 20 20.4 36 19.6 quantity surveying 30 34.9 26 26.5 56 30.4 building 15 17.4 28 28.6 43 23.4 electrical/mechanical engineering 10 11.7 7 7.2 17 9.2 sector of project investigated public 43 50.0 49 50.0 92 50.0 private 43 50.0 49 50.0 92 50.0 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 11-23 15 work experience of respondents 1-5 years 17 19.8 32 32.7 49 26.6 6-10 years 35 40.6 45 45.9 80 43.5 11-15 years 22 25.6 13 13.3 35 19.0 16-20 years 12 14.0 8 8.1 20 10.9 educational qualification ond 3 3.5 2 2.0 5 2.7 hnd/b.sc. 55 64.0 84 85.7 139 75.5 m.sc. 28 32.5 11 11.3 39 21.2 ph.d. 0 0.0 1 1.0 1 0.5 type of building project residential 40 46.5 48 49.0 88 47.8 institutional 20 23.3 17 17.3 37 20.1 religious 2 2.3 2 2.0 4 2.2 commercial 24 27.9 31 31.7 55 29.9 location of project lagos state 44 51.2 37 37.8 81 44.0 ogun state 17 19.8 19 19.4 36 19.6 oyo state 20 23.2 12 12.2 32 17.4 osun state 3 3.5 10 10.2 13 7.1 ondo state 0 0.0 12 12.2 12 6.5 ekiti state 2 2.3 8 8.2 10 5.4 procurement method traditional 13 15.1 18 18.4 31 16.8 design and build 26 30.2 40 40.8 66 35.9 management method 47 54.7 40 40.8 87 47.3 type of construction new 82 95.3 89 90.8 171 92.9 refurbishment 4 4.7 9 9.2 13 7.1 total 86 100.0 98 100.0 184 100.0 from table 3, it is evident that the respondents and their organizations are qualified to give useful information for the study. table 3 also indicates the general information of the building projects used for this study. the information includes the type of project, location, procurement method and type of construction. most of the projects used for this study are new works and residential in nature. also, lagos state constitutes the supplier of the largest building projects (44%), followed by ogun (19%) and oyo state (17.4%) respectively. it is interesting to know that the traditional method of procurement is the least used on the projects used for this study table 4 presents the frequency of occurrence of the causes of errors in contract documents. table 4: causes of errors in contract documents according to services rendered and their test of difference causes of errors cons. mean contr. mean total mean p value significance decision design management experience 4.18(1) 3.73 (1) 3.94(1) 0.024 significant reject ho project brief 3.88(3) 3.54 (5) 3.70(2) 0.059 n. significant accept ho designer professional education 3.92(2) 3.50 (6) 3.70(3) 0.019 significant reject ho lack of design standards 3.79(5) 3.57 (3) 3.67(4) 0.263 n. significant accept ho poor communication among project participants 3.73(7) 3.55 (4) 3.63(5) 0.429 n. significant accept ho lack of coordination between disciplines 3.60(15) 3.61 (2) 3.61(6) 0.924 n. significant accept ho management organizational structure 3.72(8) 3.49 (7) 3.60(7) 0.237 n. significant accept ho lack of consistency between drawing and specification 3.85(4) 3.35(14) 3.59(8) 0.017 significant reject ho carelessness and negligence 3.67(10) 3.45(8) 3.55(9) 0.271 n. significant accept ho insufficient fund to create quality documents 3.72(8) 3.36(11) 3.53(10) 0.076 n. significant accept ho errors in design assumptions/calculations 3.77(6) 3.27(23) 3.51(11) 0.016 significant reject ho availability and contradictions of design information 3.65(12) 3.36(11) 3.50(12) 0.102 n. significant accept ho physical and mental conditions 3.66(11) 3.34(16) 3.49(13) 0.073 n. significant accept ho lack of awareness of changes in standards 3.65(12) 3.34(16) 3.48(14) 0.108 n. significant accept ho inadequate documentation 3.58(28) 3.36(11) 3.47(15) 0.198 n. significant accept ho complexity of design and project 3.59(17) 3.35(14) 3.46(16) 0.274 n. significant accept ho 16 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 11-23 identification of project risk 3.60(15) 3.31(19) 3.45(17) 0.612 n. significant accept ho inadequate design time 3.43(27) 3.41(9) 3.42(18) 0.917 n. significant accept ho lack of motivation 3.65(12) 3.14(29) 3.37(19) 0.004 significant reject ho procurement process 3.55(19) 3.20(26) 3.37(20) 0.062 n. significant accept ho unrealistic client demand 3.40(30) 3.32(18) 3.36(21) 0.660 n. significant accept ho lack of planning and inspection of project 3.49(22) 3.22(22) 3.35(22) 0.109 n. significant accept ho nature of economy 3.51(20) 3.20(26) 3.35(23) 0.096 n. significant accept ho attitude of client 3.38(31) 3.29(20) 3.34(24) 0.612 n. significant accept ho transfer of knowledge and experience between designers 3.36(33) 3.29(20) 3.32(25) 0.685 n. significant accept ho completeness/contradiction of information 3.51(20) 3.14(29) 3.31(26) 0.028 significant reject ho unclear and ambiguous requirements for design specifications 3.37(32) 3.26(24) 3.31(27) 0.518 n. significant accept ho authority approval 3.47(26) 3.16(28) 3.31(28) 0.154 n. significant accept ho project cost 3.31(38) 3.28(22) 3.29(29) 0.846 n. significant accept ho standard of university education in contract courses 3.43(27) 3.41(9) 3.28(30) 0.103 n. significant accept ho fragment nature of industry 3.41(29) 3.13(32) 3.26(31) 0.078 n. significant accept ho uniqueness of project 3.35(34) 3.13(32) 3.23(32) 0.289 n. significant accept ho low designer salary 3.33(35) 3.13(32) 3.23(33) 0.276 n. significant accept ho size of project 3.49(22) 2.99(37) 3.23(34) 0.013 significant reject ho construction start and finish time 3.48(25) 2.99(37) 3.22(35) 0.008 significant reject ho lack of clarity and legibility 3.49(22) 2.89(43) 3.17(36) 0.003 significant reject ho inadequate design staff 3.23(39) 3.11(35) 3.16(37) 0.462 n. significant accept ho concurrent /overlapping activities 3.13(41) 3.14(29) 3.14(38) 0.032 significant reject ho amount of work with design organizations 3.32(36) 2.90(41) 3.10(39) 0.944 n. significant accept ho personality attitudes 3.32(36) 2.88(44) 3.09(40) 0.023 significant reject ho non-request for certificate of insurance covering design and errors 3.02(43) 3.08(36) 3.06(41) 0.744 n. significant accept ho type of client 3.15(40) 2.90(41) 3.02(42) 0.228 n. significant accept ho acceptance of low design fees 3.11(42) 2.93(39) 3.01(43) 0.301 n. significant accept ho re-use of notes and details of similar projects 2.78(42) 2.92(40) 2.86(44) 0.472 n. significant accept ho authority approval 3.47(26) 3.16(28) 3.31(28) 0.154 n. significant accept ho project cost 3.31(38) 3.28(22) 3.29(29) 0.846 n. significant accept ho standard of university education in contract courses 3.43(27) 3.41(9) 3.28(30) 0.103 n. significant accept ho fragment nature of industry 3.41(29) 3.13(32) 3.26(31) 0.078 n. significant accept ho uniqueness of project 3.35(34) 3.13(32) 3.23(32) 0.289 n. significant accept ho cons = consultant, cont = contractor, < 0.05 = significant, therefore reject ho according to the consultants, the frequent causes of errors include design management experience (4.18), designer professional education (3.92), project brief (3.88), lack of consistency between drawings and specifications (3.85), lack of design standards (3.79) and among others. the ratings of the contractors are design management experience (3.73), lack of coordination among disciplines (3.61), lack of design standards (3.57), poor communication among project participants (3.55) and project brief (3.54). the two sets of respondents (contractors and consultants) unanimously agreed that the top causes of errors in contract documents are design management experience (3.94), project brief (3.70), designer professional education (3.70), lack of design standards (3.67) and poor communication among project participants (3.63) to mention a few. table 4 also tests the difference in the responses of consultants and contractors on the causes of errors in contract documents. this hypothesis was tested with the independent samples t-test and it was found that from the 44 causes of errors investigated, there are significant differences in the causes of errors in contract documents between the consultants and contractors (that is the null hypothesis was rejected, and the alternative was accepted) on eleven (11) of them. hence, there is a significant difference in the perception of consultants and contractors to causes of error in contract documents in the aspect of design management experience, designer professional education and amount of work with design organizations. this result was not unexpected because consultants and contractors protect different interests on every project and as such, they are bound to vary on issues that conflict their interests. for instance, while contractors would claim that designers have little experience of designing, designers on the hand will blame poor design on inadequate project brief. the result is also consistent with the findings of mohammed (2007) and norman (1983). however, re-use of notes and details of similar project, types of client and acceptance of low fees were highly rated as significant by palaneeswaran et al. (2007), tilley et al. (2005) and love et al. (2011) but this result shows that they are not frequent causes of errors in contract documents. table 5 shows the mean values of the errors in contract documents according to the types of building projects investigated. o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 11-23 17 table 5: causes of errors in contract documents according to type of building projects and their test of difference causes of errors resi. mean insti. mean relig. mean comm. mean total mean p value sig. decision design management experience 3.79 4.31 3.50 3.96 3.94 0.241 n.s accept project brief 3.53 4.16 4.25 3.62 3.70 0.042 s reject designer professional education 3.68 3.76 4.00 3.66 3.70 0.938 s reject lack of design standards 3.36 4.22 4.00 3.75 3.67 0.006 s reject poor communication among project participants 3.51 4.03 3.75 3.57 3.63 0.372 n.s accept lack of coordination between disciplines 3.44 4.25 3.25 3.47 3.61 0.016 s reject management organizational structure 3.64 3.59 3.75 3.53 3.60 0.963 n.s accept lack of consistency between drawing and specification 3.43 4.00 3.25 3.60 3.59 0.221 n.s accept carelessness and negligence 3.38 4.00 3.50 3.52 3.55 0.114 n.s accept insufficient fund to create quality documents 3.47 3.73 3.50 3.51 3.53 0.012 s reject errors in design assumptions/calculations 3.24 4.11 4.00 3.49 3.51 0.014 s reject availability and contradictions of design information 3.32 3.65 4.00 3.64 3.50 0.274 n.s accept physical and mental conditions 3.42 3.62 3.50 3.52 3.49 0.863 n.s accept lack of awareness of changes in standards 3.34 3.89 3.50 3.43 3.48 0.185 n.s accept inadequate documentation 3.18 3.84 3.00 3.69 3.47 0.008 s reject complexity of design and project 3.17 4.08 3.50 3.48 3.46 0.012 s reject identification of project risk 3.42 3.62 3.00 3.41 3.45 0.700 n.s accept inadequate design time 3.31 3.64 3.33 3.42 3.42 0.570 n.s accept lack of motivation 3.25 3.78 3.25 3.31 3.38 0.159 n.s accept procurement process 3.19 3.62 3.25 3.48 3.37 0.303 n.s accept unrealistic client demand 3.02 3.86 3.00 3.57 3.36 0.002 s reject lack of planning and inspection of project 3.29 3.41 3.50 3.38 3.35 0.947 n.s accept nature of economy 3.15 3.62 4.00 3.43 3.35 0.162 n.s accept attitude of client 3.14 3.92 3.25 3.25 3.34 0.008 s reject transfer of knowledge and experience between designers 3.27 3.44 3.75 3.30 3.32 0.768 n.s accept completeness/contradiction of information 3.27 3.64 3.25 3.16 3.31 0.251 n.s accept unclear and ambiguous requirements for esign specifications 3.18 3.47 3.75 3.38 3.31 0.425 n.s accept authority approval 3.02 3.76 3.50 3.43 3.31 0.069 n.s accept project cost 3.08 3.57 4.25 3.37 3.29 0.102 n.s accept standard of university education in contract courses 3.22 3.30 2.75 3.40 3.28 0.667 n.s accept fragment nature of industry 3.19 3.42 3.50 3.24 3.26 0.721 n.s accept uniqueness of project 3.00 3.56 3.75 3.35 3.23 0.165 n.s accept low designer salary 3.17 3.35 3.25 3.24 3.23 0.897 n.s accept size of project 3.09 3.68 3.50 3.11 3.23 0.139 n.s accept construction start and finish time 3.21 3.31 3.00 3.20 3.22 0.958 n.s accept lack of clarity and legibility 3.17 3.35 4.00 3.00 3.17 0.399 n.s accept inadequate design staff 3.18 3.24 3.25 3.08 3.16 0.909 n.s accept concurrent /overlapping activities 3.20 3.28 3.33 2.92 3.14 0.411 n.s accept amount of work with design organizations 3.12 3.16 3.25 3.02 3.10 0.948 n.s accept personality attitudes 2.89 3.70 3.25 2.96 3.09 0.010 s reject non-request for certificate of insurance covering design and errors 3.05 2.92 3.00 3.07 3.06 0.833 n.s accept type of client 2.92 3.25 3.25 3.02 3.02 0.668 n.s accept acceptance of low design fees 2.99 3.08 3.25 2.98 3.01 0.947 n.s accept re-use of notes and details of similar projects 2.71 2.97 3.00 3.00 2.86 0.561 n.s accept resi=residential, insti=institutional, relig=religious, comm=commercial table 5 also demonstrates the analysis of variance (anova) test conducted to determine if there are differences in the perception of the respondents on the causes of errors in contract documents based on the types of building projects. ranking among the types of building projects investigated, the factors that cause errors the most in contract documents are design management experience (3.94), project brief (3.70), designers' professional 18 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 11-23 education (3.70), lack of design standards (3.67), poor communication among project participants (3.63) to mention a few. the descriptive statistics show that many of the causes investigated are frequently occurring. however, the anova test conducted indicates that there are significant differences in eleven (11) of the forty-four (44) causes of errors in contract documents studied. this result was unexpected because it would have been thought that whatever causes an error on one type of project should be capable of doing same on other types of projects. however, justification could still be provided for the result based on the different sizes, procurement route and complexity of projects involved. table 6 indicates the causes of errors in contract documents according to the procurement methods investigated in this study. table 6: causes of errors in contract documents according to procurement methods and their test of difference causes of errors trad. d&b . p/c management total mean p value sig. decision design management experience 4.28 3.88 3.87 3.94 0.336 n.s accept project brief 3.90 3.52 3.77 3.70 0.257 n.s accept designer professional education 3,69 3.76 3.66 3.70 0.864 n.s accept lack of design standards 4.03 3.67 3.55 3.67 0.203 n.s accept poor communication among project participants 4.00 3.60 3.53 3.63 0.340 n.s accept lack of coordination between disciplines 3.87 3.55 3.55 3.61 0.492 n.s accept management organizational structure 3.71 3.86 3.36 3.60 0.054 n.s accept lack of consistency between drawing and specs 4.01 3.50 3.48 3.59 0.87 n.s accept carelessness and negligence 3.87 3.58 3.42 3.55 0.245 n.s accept insufficient fund to create quality documents 3.84 3.63 3.36 3.53 0.187 n.s accept errors in design assumptions/calculations 3.97 3.28 3.51 3.51 0.74 n.s accept availability and contradictions of design information 3.39 3.70 3.40 3.50 2.56 n.s accept physical and mental conditions 3.65 3.41 3.51 3.49 0.671 n.s accept lack of awareness of changes in standards 3.81 3.57 3.30 3.48 0.141 n.s accept inadequate documentation 3.86 3.11 3.59 3.47 0.005 s reject complexity of design and project 3.48 3.45 3.46 3.46 0.994 n.s accept identification of project risk 3.29 3.41 3.53 3.45 0.617 n.s accept inadequate design time 3.64 3.35 3.38 3.42 0.512 n.s accept lack of motivation 3.61 3.27 3.27 3.38 0.430 n.s accept procurement process 3.06 3.52 3.37 3.37 0.271 n.s accept unrealistic client demand 3.55 3.17 3.43 3.36 0.297 n.s accept lack of planning and inspection of project 3.47 3.44 3.24 3.35 0.512 n.s accept nature of economy 3.29 3.22 3.46 3.35 0.504 n.s accept attitude of client 3.35 3.32 3.34 3.34 0.986 n.s accept transfer of knowledge and experience between designers 3.29 3.18 3.45 3.32 0.382 n.s accept completeness/contradiction of information 3.32 3.57 3.16 3.31 0.094 n.s accept unclear and ambiguous requirements for design specifications 3.80 3.19 3.23 3.31 0.31 n.s accept authority approval 2.84 3.30 3.48 3.31 0.116 n.s accept project cost 3.29 3.13 3.41 3.29 0.425 n.s accept standard of education in contract courses 3.32 3.48 3.13 3.28 0.192 n.s accept fragmented nature of industry 3.16 3.41 3.19 3.26 0.394 n.s accept uniqueness of project 3.32 3.24 3.20 3.23 0.915 n.s accept low designer salary 3.25 3.28 3.19 3.23 0.883 n.s accept size of project 3.00 3.23 3.30 3.23 0.574 n.s accept construction start and finish time 3.29 3.19 3.22 3.22 0.932 n.s accept lack of clarity and legibility 3.65 3.11 3.05 3.17 0.102 n.s accept inadequate design staff 3.21 3.11 3.19 3.16 0.901 n.s accept concurrent /overlapping activities 3.31 3.35 2.92 3.14 0.043 s reject amount of work with design organizations 3.10 3.19 3.03 3.10 0.763 n.s accept personality attitudes 3.45 3.03 3.00 3.09 0.220 n.s accept non-request for certificate of insurance covering design and errors 3.48 3.05 2.91 3.06 0.088 n.s accept type of client 3.32 2.77 3.09 3.02 0.158 n.s accept acceptance of low design fees 3.33 3.00 2.92 3.01 0.274 n.s accept re-use of notes and details of similar projects 3.06 2.77 3.09 3.02 0.158 n.s accept trad=traditional, d&b=design and build, p/c management= project/construction management 0.05 = significant = reject ho, s = significant, n.s. = not significant o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 11-23 19 table 7: causes of errors in contract documents according to states in south-west, nigeria causes of errors ekiti mean ondo mean osun mean oyo mean ogun mean lagos mean project brief 2.90 (16) 4.40 (1) 3.15 (36) 3.56 (15) 3.69 (11) 3.86 (1) design management experience 3.20 (9) 3.60 (5) 3.85 (2) 4.41 (2) 4.08 (1) 3.84 (2) management organizational structure 3.10 (11) 3.83 (2) 3.08 (40) 3.91 (5) 3.25 (36) 3.74 (3) poor communication among project participants 2.50 (33) 3.17 (20) 3.42 (23) 3.64 (12) 4.04 (2) 3.73 (4) physical and mental conditions 2.90 (16) 3.00 (25) 3.46 (21) 3.22 (39) 3.53 (20) 3.72 (5) lack of coordination between disciplines 2.90 (16) 3.50 (7) 3.69 (7) 3.25 (38) 3.97 (3) 3.68 (6) carelessness and negligence 3.10 (11) 3.00 (24) 3.54 (16) 3.28 (37) 3.83 (8) 3.67 (7) lack of design standards 3.40 (2) 3.40 (14) 3.77 (3) 3.53 (22) 3.94 (4) 3.66 (8) errors in design assumptions/calculations 3.30(3) 2.20 (41) 3.23 (32) 3.53 (19) 3.89 (6) 3.56 (9) availability and contradictions of design information 2.90 (16) 3.20 (19) 3.58 (11) 3.34 (35) 3.77 (9) 3.54 (10) lack of motivation 2.70 (27) 2.60 (33) 3.15 (35) 3.47 (27) 3.47 (24) 3.52 (11) lack of awareness of changes in standards 3.10 (11) 3.40 (13) 3.38 (24) 3.50 (24) 3.61 (14) 3.49 (12) lack of consistency between drawing and specification 2.67 (28) 3.00 (23) 3.75 (4) 3.81 (8) 3.94 (4) 3.49 (13) designer professional education 3.50 (1) 3.14 (15) 4.15 (1) 4.28 (3) 3.61 (15) 3.49 (14) inadequate documentation 3.20 (9) 3.50 (6) 3.54 (14) 3.47 (28) 3.46 (25) 3.49 (15) identification of project risk 3.22 (8) 2.80 (29) 3.31 (29) 3.56 (16) 3.56 (19) 3.48 (16) inadequate design time 2.56 (32) 3.00 (27) 3.54 (17) 3.92 (4) 3.27 (34) 3.44 (17) complexity of design and project 2.80(22) 3.40 (11) 3.69 (8 ) 3.53 (23) 3.68 (12) 3.40 (18) procurement process 2.80 (22) 3.20 (18) 3.75 (6 ) 3.16 (42) 3.58 (16) 3.39 (19) authority approval 2.30 (39) 2.40 (38) 3.33 (28) 3.59 (13) 3.42 (26) 3.37 (20) attitude of client 2.80 (22) 3.20 (17) 3.00 (42) 3.87 (6) 3.11 (41) 3.36 (21) lack of planning and inspection of project 2.90 (16) 2.60 (31) 3.17 (34) 3.59 (14) 3.56 (17) 3.35 (22) unrealistic client demand 2.67 (28) 3.75 (4) 3.15 (37) 3.53 (21) 3.40 (29) 3.34 (23) insufficient fund to create quality documents 2.10 (43) 2.80 (28) 3.23 (33) 4.47 (1) 3.86 (7) 3.33 (24) unclear and ambiguous requirements for design specifications 2.40 (37) 2.60 (30) 3.08 (39) 3.66 (11) 3.56 (18) 3.30 (25) transfer of knowledge and experience between designers 3.30 (3) 3.00 (26) 3.54 (15) 3.20 (40) 3.53 (21) 3.29 (26) fragment nature of industry 2.50 (33) 3.40 (8) 3.75 (5) 3.47 (25) 3.03 (42) 3.28 (27) amount of work with design organizations 2.50 (33) 1.80 (43) 3.25 (31) 3.16 (41) 3.14 (39) 3.28 (28) nature of economy 3.00 (14) 3.40 (9) 3.58 (10) 3.56 (17) 3.36 (31) 3.26 (29) project cost 3.30 (3) 3.80 (3) 3.58 (12) 3.31 (36) 3.14 (38) 3.25 (30) uniqueness of project 3.30 (3) 3.20 (16) 3.42 (22) 2.84 (43) 3.50 (22) 3.24 (31) standard of university education in construction courses 3.25 (6) 3.00 (21) 3.50 (18) 3.45 (29) 3.25 (37) 3.23 (32) type of client 2.30 (39) 3.40 (10) 2.67 (44) 3.38 (33) 2.50 (44) 3.22 (33) construction start and finish time 2.30 (39) 2.60 (32) 2.77 (43) 3.87 (7) 3.33 (33) 3.19 (34) completeness/contradiction of information 2.67 (28) 2.40 (39) 3.25 (30) 3.77 (9) 3.69 (10) 3.15 (35) size of project 2.60 (31) 3.00 (22) 3.46 (20) 3.56 (18) 3.25 (35) 3.15 (36) low designer salary 3.00 (14) 1.75 (44) 3.50 (19) 3.69 (10) 3.42 (28) 3.09 (37) non-request for certificate of insurance covering design and errors 2.20 (42) 3.40 (12) 3.15 (38) 2.81 (44) 3.33 (32) 3.08 (38) inadequate design staff 2.90 (16) 2.50 (35) 3.38 (26) 3.34 (34) 3.40 (30) 3.05 (39) concurrent /overlapping activities 2.50 (33) 2.50 (34) 3.38 (25) 3.41 (32) 3.42 (27) 3.00 (40) personality attitudes 2.80 (22) 2.40 (36) 3.54 (13) 3.42 (31) 3.14 (40) 2.99 (41) lack of clarity and legibility 2.33 (38) 2.40 (37) 3.38 (27) 3.47 (26) 3.67 (13) 2.99 (42) re-use of notes and details of similar projects 2.00 (44) 3.20 (40) 3.00 (41) 3.53 (20) 2.69 (43) 2.82 (43) acceptance of low design fees 2.78 (26) 3.20 (42) 3.62 (9) 3.44 (30) 3.50 (23) 2.64 (44) the factors with the highest contribution to errors in contract documents (total) based on procurement methods are design management experience (3.94), project brief (3.70), designers' professional education (3.70), lack of design standards (3.67), poor communication among project participants (3.63), lack of coordination among disciplines (3.61), management organisational structure (3.60), carelessness and negligence (3.55) and insufficient fund to create quality documents (3.53) among others. the anova test conducted shows that only inadequate documentation and concurrent/overlapping activities are significantly different within the forty-four (44) causes of 20 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 11-23 errors in contract documents investigated based on procurement method. the implication of this result is that procurement option will only cause an error when the contract documents are incomplete, and designers do activities concurrently. contract documents could only be incomplete in design and build option and the traditional method. this could mean that the traditional and design and build methods are more prone to errors that the management method. this could also explain the reason why the industry professionals are campaigning that the management practices should be embraced above other methods. table 8: difference in the causes of errors in contract documents among the south-western states causes of errors f cal df p value sig. decision management organizational structure 1.851 183 0.105 n. significant accept ho project brief 2.546 183 0.030 significant reject ho lack of coordination between disciplines 1.579 183 0.168 n. significant accept ho poor communication among project participants 1.903 183 0.097 n. significant accept ho design management experience 1.746 183 0.126 n. significant accept ho designer professional education 2.762 183 0.020 significant reject ho acceptance of low design fees 6.194 183 0.000 significant reject ho inadequate design time 2.542 183 0.030 significant reject ho low designer salary 4.519 183 0.001 significant reject ho inadequate design staff 1.475 183 0.201 n. significant accept ho concurrent /overlapping activities 2.453 183 0.036 significant reject ho amount of work with design organization 2.974 183 0.013 significant reject ho availability and contradictions of design information 1.140 183 0.341 n. significant accept ho transfer of knowledge and experience between designers 0.548 183 0.739 n. significant accept ho physical and mental conditions 1.735 183 0.129 n. significant accept ho lack of motivation 1.889 183 0.097 n. significant accept ho carelessness and negligence 1.364 183 0.240 n. significant accept ho lack of design standards 0.583 183 0.713 n. significant accept ho lack of awareness of changes in standards 0.266 183 0.931 n. significant accept ho unrealistic client demand 0.955 183 0.447 n. significant accept ho inadequate documentation 0.122 183 0.987 n. significant accept ho errors in design assumptions/calculation 2.639 183 0.025 significant reject ho lack of consistency between drawing and specifications 1.961 183 0.087 n. significant accept ho lack of clarity and legibility 3.090 183 0.011 significant reject ho personality attitudes 1.555 183 0.175 n. significant accept ho re-use of notes and details of similar projects 3.395 183 0.006 significant reject ho type of client 2.742 183 0.021 significant reject ho contract start and finish time 3.971 183 0.002 significant reject ho lack of planning and inspection of project 1.543 183 0.179 n. significant accept ho identification of project risk 0.800 183 0.551 n. significant accept ho attitude of client 2.342 183 0.043 significant reject ho insufficient fund to create quality documents 8.139 183 0.000 significant reject ho non-request for certificate of insurance covering design and errors 1.740 183 0.128 n. significant accept ho unclear and ambiguous requirements for design specifications 3.393 183 0.006 significant reject ho completeness/contradiction of information 4.505 183 0.001 significant reject ho uniqueness of project 0.780 183 0.566 n. significant accept ho project cost 0.527 183 0.756 n. significant accept ho procurement process 1.045 183 0.393 n. significant accept ho size of project 1.014 183 0.411 n. significant accept ho authority approval 2.083 183 0.070 n. significant accept ho complexity of design and project 0.724 183 0.606 n. significant accept ho nature of economy 0.500 183 0.776 n. significant accept ho standard of university education in contract courses 0.367 183 0.871 n. significant accept ho fragment nature of industry 2.215 183 0.055 n. significant accept ho < 0.05 = significant, therefore accept ho table 7 indicates the causes of errors in contract documents based on the states in south-west, nigeria. under each state, the mean scores for the investigated variables were recorded with their ranks enclosed in brackets. in ekiti state, the leading causes of errors in contract documents are designers' professional education o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 11-23 21 (3.50), lack of design standards (3.40), transfer of knowledge and experience (3.53) among designers. the leading causes of errors in ondo state are project brief (4.40), management organisational structure (3.82), project cost (3.80) and unrealistic client demand (3.75). the top causes of errors in osun state are designer, professional education (4.15), design management experience (3.85), lack of design standard and lack of consistency between drawings (3.77) and specifications (3.75). in oyo state, the leading causes of errors in contract documents are insufficient fund to create quality documents (4.47), design management experience (4.41), designers' professional education (4.28) and inadequate design time (3.92). in ogun state, the top causes of errors in contract documents are design management experience (4.08), poor communication among project participants (4.04), lack of coordination among disciplines (3.97), lack of consistency between drawings and specifications (3.94), lack of design standards (3.94) and errors in assumptions/calculations (3.89). in lagos state, the causes of errors in contract documents are project brief (3.86), design management experience (3.84), management organisational structure (3.74), poor communication among project participants (3.73), physical and mental condition (3.72) among others. the implication of this analysis is that the causes of errors in contract documents vary from one state to the other. the reason for this variation is not investigated in this study. table 8 shows the difference in the causes of errors in contract documents among the south west states in nigeria. the test shows that out of the 44 causes investigated in this study, there are no significant differences in 27 of them. this indicates that there are significant differences in 17 of the causes of errors investigated. table 9: frequency of the causes of error in contract documents causes of errors in contract documents frequency of occurrence percentage frequent design changes by client 23 22.1 lack of adequate time to prepare contract documents 18 17.3 oversight, negligence and laziness 8 7.7 lack of concentration/ review of contract documents 2 2.0 use of inexperience designers to prepare contract documents 11 10.6 lack of proper understanding of clients’ brief and designers’ specifications 5 4.8 poor design fee/supervision fee/poor salary to professional staff of designers’ organizations 6 5.8 unprofessionalism (lack of site visitation) 5 4.8 lack of adequate communication 3 2.9 incomplete document at the time of tender/finalizing contract (use of provisional sums to cover many work items) 5 4.8 lack of design coordination 5 4.8 omission, conflicting documentation and lack of detailed drawing 5 4.8 poor design documentation/lack of quality focus 4 3.8 poor supervision by consultants as a result of inexperience and unprofessionalism 4 3.8 total number of occurrences 104 100 this result was quite expected as many of the studies (mohammed, 2007, barkow, 2005, long, 2011) on design errors shows that the causes of errors in contract documents vary from country to country and location to location. this finding only empirically confirmed the assertions. the interview of contractors, consultants and project managers on 51 building projects as shown in table 9 indicates that the frequent causes of errors in contract documents are frequent design changes by client (22.1%), lack of adequate time to prepare contract documents (17.3%), use of inexperienced designers to prepare documents (10.6%) and oversight, negligence and carelessness (7.7%). it is important to note that there is an agreement between the interview and questionnaire survey because in both cases, the frequent causes of errors in contract documents are similar. frequent design changes by clients will send designers back to the drawing board, and the quantity surveyors will also have to prepare the bills of quantities again. when this process occurs frequently, it can lead to a mix-up and depression in some cases. lack of adequate design time will prompt designers to take short cuts thereby violating rules and procedures of contract documentation which can cause errors. during the interview session, a respondent discussed that on a particular project, the client got dissatisfied with the agreement signed with the contractor; therefore, the client claimed that it was an error from the designers and as such, he wanted a redesign of documents which led to conflicting documents and delay on the project. next, to clients changing of design and specifications, 17.3% emphasized that client's put so much pressure on designers during the preparation of contract documents; therefore, the designers become susceptible to errors. third on the table is the use of inexperienced designers (10.6%) such as industrial training (it) students and nonpracticing professionals. the fourth cause identified is the oversight by professionals, negligence and laziness (7.7%). this is followed by payment of poor design/supervision fee to designers' organization which 22 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1 (2). 11-23 also leads to payment of poor salary to the professional staff of designer's organizations. unprofessionalism such as lack of visitation to site before the design is done is rated 4.8%. improper and incomplete contract documentation at the time of tender/finalizing the contract; omission, conflicting documents and undetailed drawings, lack of proper/inadequate understanding of clients' brief and designers specification and lack of design coordination all have a representation of 4.8%. the findings of the study were buttressed by interviews which indicate that clients' frequent change of designs and specifications, lack of adequate time to prepare contract documents, use of inexperienced designers, oversight, negligence and laziness are the most frequent causes of errors in contract documents. this result agrees with barkow (2005), mohammed (2007), palaneeswaran et al (2007) and vrouwenvelder et al (2009) who noted that carelessness, negligence, acceptance of poor design fee, client change of design and specifications, type of client, poor communication, lack of adequate documentation and lack of coordination among disciplines are the major causes of errors in contract documents. 5. conclusion based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that errors in contract documents are frequently caused by clients' change of design and specifications, lack of adequate time to prepare contract documents, use of inexperienced designers to prepare contract documents, oversight, negligence and laziness. also, there is a significant difference in the causes of errors in contract documents between contractors and consultants. there is also a significant difference in the causes of errors in contract documents from one state to the other in southwest, nigeria. this means that the causes of errors in contract documents are different across the construction industries of various countries and nigeria is not an exception. the study also concludes that there is a significant difference in the causes of errors in contract documents based on the type of project. furthermore, based on procurement method, the study concludes that inadequate contract documentation and concurrent/ overlapping activities are the causes of errors in contract documents based on the conclusions, the study recommends that the frequent causes of errors in contract documents which include lack of adequate time to prepare documents, oversight, negligence and laziness, use of inexperienced designers and lack of proper understanding of clients brief must be prevented to minimize cost and time overrun of building projects to the barest minimum. in nigeria, it is evident from the inferential statistics that the causes of errors in contract documents vary from one state to the other. therefore, it is recommended that consultants practising in nigeria will consider the frequent causes identified in this study as the ones to avoid when preparing contract documents for building projects. the causes established in this study particularly are mostly related to the consultants and designers. therefore, to prevent them, there is need to introduce quality assurance measures in consulting organizations. one of the ways this measure can be introduced is the engagement of the services of professional builders by construction clients into the design team to conduct buildability and maintainability analysis of building projects and then prepares a report on it. this has been the clamour of professional bodies in nigeria, particularly the nigerian institute of building (niob). if this step is not taken, it may be difficult to prevent the occurrence of errors in contract documents. buildability and maintainability analysis is a core function of professional builders according to the nbc (2006), but it has not been implemented because the code is yet to be passed into law by the national assembly. therefore, the government of the federal republic of nigeria need to rise and help the construction industry combat the menace of cost and time overrun by passing the national building code into law. also, for every contract document that is prepared, there must be a senior consultant or designer to check and sign the document as a way of accepting responsibility for any error discovered on the document. acknowledgement i acknowledge the financial support of the tertiary education trust fund (tetfund) of nigeria towards the execution of this work. references ade-ojo, c.o. and babalola, a.a. 2013. cost and time performance of contract projects under the due process reforms in 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(eds) proceedings of west africa built environment research (waber) conference, 19-21 july 2011, accra, ghana, 229-236 barkow, b. 2005. human factors underlying building failures. national research council of canada, toronto, ontario buratti, j. l. farrington, j. j. and ledbetter, w. b. 1992. causes of quality deviations in design and contract. journal of contract engineering and management, 118(1), 34-49 cheng-wing, s.l. and davey, e.c. 1998. designing to avoid human error consequences. (online). www.dcs.gla.ac.uk (24th september, 2011) choy, w.k. and sidwell, a.c. 1991. bills of quantities continued sources of variations in australian contract contracts. building economist, 30 (3): 25-30 diekmann. j.e. and nelson, m.c. 1985. contract claims: frequency and severity. journal of contract engineering & management, 111 (1): 74-81 o. s. dosumu et al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(2). 11-23 23 dosumu, o.s. and adenuga, o.a. 2013. causes, effects and remedies of errors in nigerian construction documents. organization, technology and management in construction, university of zagreb, croatia, 5 (1): 676686 dosumu, o. s. and iyagba, r. a. 2013. an appraisal of factors responsible for errors in nigerian construction documents. ethiopian journal of environmental studies and management, bahir dar university, ethiopia, 6 (1): 49-57 endsley, m.r. 1999, situation awareness and human error: designing to support human performance. in proceedings of the high consequence systems surety conference, albuquerque, nm, love, p.e., davis, p., london, k. and jasper, t. 2008. causal modelling of construction disputes. in proceedings of 24th annual arcom conference, 1st – 3rd september, 869-878 love, p.e., edwards, d.j., han, s. and goh, y.m. 2011. design error reduction: towards the effective utilization of building information modelling, research in engineering design, 22, 173–187 mohammed, r.e. 2007. ‘an exploratory system dynamics model to investigate the relationships between errors that occur in contract documents in saudi arabia and their possible causes'. an unpublished phd thesis submitted to heriot-watt university school of the built environment mukaka, m.j., aigbavboa, c.o. and thwala, w.d. 2014. a theoretical review of the causes and effects of contract projects cost & schedule overrun. paper presented at the international conference on emerging trend in computer and image processing on 15-16 december 2014 at pattaya, thailand national building code. 2006. federal republic of nigeria national building code. lexis nexis butterworks, south africa norman, d.a. 1983. design rules based on analyses of human error. communications of the acm, 4 (26); 254258 okuntade, t.f. 2014. effects of faulty contract on building maintenance. international journal of technology enhancements and emerging engineering research 2(3): 73-79 olaniyan, o.a. 2011. designing out waste on mass housing contract sites in minna, niger state. in: laryea, s., leiringer, r. & hughes, w. 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"documenting and analyzing contract failures." journal of contract engineering and management, 128(1): 8-17. jcbm (2020) 4(1). 60-70 construction subcontracting policy framework for developing local contractors capacities in zambia m. mambwe2, e.m. mwanaumo 1, f. phiri3 and k. chabota4 1, 2,3 & 4department of civil and environmental engineering, school of engineering, the university of zambia, zambia received 30 agust 2018; received in revised form 26 feburary 2020, 15 march 2020 and 24 march 2020; accepted 31 march 2020. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.644 abstract the zambian construction industry, like many developing countries has over the past years experienced an imbalance in the distribution of works between local and foreign contractors. in a bid to bridge the gap, the government of the republic of zambia in 2012 introduced a policy on subcontracting which provided for mandatory subcontracting of 20% of all major contracts to local contractors. there has however been outcries from subcontractors that the policy has not been beneficial. the study sought to investigate subcontracting practices in order to develop a framework for building capacity for local contractors within the construction industry in zambia. the objective of the study was to explore the regulatory requirements on subcontracting in zambia and establish the 20% subcontracting policy inadquescies . the study adopted the mixed method approach in which both semi-structured interviews (main contractors, sub-contractors consultants and project owners) and survey questionnaire were adopted for primary data collection. the questionnaire was distributed to 70 respondents and a response rate of 71% was attained. the investigation was conducted on 40 projects implemented in zambia between 2012 and 2015. the study established four major deficiencies of the policy which include: subcontractors do not participate early in the procurement process and are introduced after contract is awarded; no clear guidelines on the implementation of the policy; subcontractors do not take part in determining works; and it is difficult to grow capacity of local contractors using the 20% subcontracting policy because contractors engaged to be main on projects do not show interest in developing and building local contractors capacity due to lack of incentives. a framework was developed that can be used to meet the study objectives and that of the policy in sucbcontracting and reduce the current inadequacies. the studyrecommended the use of the proposed framework by the government to reduce the current gaps. keywords: construction industry, developing capacities, local contractors, subcontracting, zambia 1. introduction national economies develop with a thriving construction industry as it is a very significant industrial sector. . mwanaumo et al. (2018) cited deloitte (2018) highlighting that at global level, the industry is very enormouse and was valued around usd $17 trillion in 2017 and is expected to grow to usd 69.4 trillion by 2035. additionally, the contribution of the contruction industry at global level in relation to the gross domestic product (gdp) is estimated at 15% of the gdp in 2020 (pricewaterhousecoopers, 2013) and is expected to increase by 3.9% per annum to 2030 (pricewaterhousecoopers, 2017). in south africa, the construction industry is significant and contributed 3.9% 1 corresponding author. email address: erastus.mwanaumo@unza.zm of the countries’ gdp in 2017 according to the pricewaterhousecoopers (2017) as cited by lekula (2018) and contributes 11% of employment (construction industry development board (cibd), 2018). in the recent past, the construction industry in zambia contributed about 10.6% of the zambian gdp in 2016 compared to 9.9% in 2014, indicating an increase in activity in the development of infrastructure in the country, according to the kpmg 2017 cited by mwnaumo et al. (2018). the construction industry in zambia has however been monopolised by contractors of foreign origin who are aquivalent to 20% of contractors registered, yet having a market share in excess of 80% in contract value as noted by the national concil for construction (ncc) (2018). this dominance is attributed lack of adequate capacity university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1. mailto:erastus.mwanaumo@unza.zm 62 m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 local contractors according to the report by the ministry of works and supply (2018). to respond to this challenge, the zambian government adopted a requirement on the subcontracting of all public works in 2012(ncc, 2014) which saw the increase in the contract sum threshold from 10% to 20% of major constructs in the country; . the aim of the 20% policy threshold in subcontracting was to empower local contractors in order to build their capacity and also to creat jobs (national council for construction and zambia institute for policy analysis and research, 2017). according to kulemeka et al. (2002), the existing variances disables local contractor capacities in relation to registration according to institution requirements and in the recent years, zambia has seen major construction works that are capital intensive hence are limited to contractors who are in higher grades based on the contractors’ classification system in zambia as highlighted by national council for construction (2018) and the national road fund agency (nrfa) (2015) and conferring to the ncc (2018), local contractors registered in grade 1 and 2 are only 34% of the total contractors registered, implying that foreign contractors take the remaining 66%. . this eliminates most of the local contractors in participating to procure major construction works since a large number of them are registered in lower categories. nonetheless, despite the introduction of the policy, subcontractors, who are the intended beneficiaries, have complained that this policy had not been implemented well and is not beneficial to them (daily nation, 2018; zambia national broadcasting corporation, 2015). there has also been little documentation on subcontracting practices in zambia. this study however, focused developing a manadatory subcontracting practice framework that would help in capacity building of local contractors in the zambian construction industry. it was thus important to assess the existing subcontracting regulatory framework in zambia , inaguarate inadequacies of the mandatory 20% policy manadatory to develop the local contractors’ capacities in, then recommend improvements that would culminate into the development of a framework in subcontracting for development of capacity for local contractors. the results will benefit the zambian government in making policy improvements on the 20% subcontracting policy. it is envisaged that the study findings would add to the construction industry body of knowledge in relation to subcontracting of local contractors. 2. literature review hoban and francis (2010), defines subcontractors as being specialists hired by main contractor to perform specific tasks on a project as part of the overall contract. it has been generally accepted that subcontractors play a significant role in the execution of construction work (akanni & osmadi, 2015; abbasianjahromi, et al., 2013; hoban & francis, 2010). the general contractors’ performance is strongly dependent on subcontractors (albino & garavelli, 1998). mbachu (2008) reinforced this notion and stated that the ability of the general contractor and consultant to deliver the project within time, quality and cost depends largely on the performance of subcontractors. additionally, the contribution of subcontractors in construction works can be more than 50% while in some sectors it can be as much as 90% of the total project value (kumaraswamy & mathews, 2000). according arditi and chotibhongs (2005) subcontracting has proved to be efficient and economical in the use of available resources. they argued that qualified subcontractors are usually able to perform their work specialty more quickly and at a lesser cost than the general contractor. it is also noted that subcontracting can improve quality of work and reduce project time and costs (ng, et al., 2008). kulemeka et al. (2015) in their study posit that what prevents performance of local contractors are economic related in nature and concluded that local contractors remain unsustainable and their performance unsatisfactory if governments do not intervene. they further added that in order to address the challenges faced by the malawian local contractors , the review of policies by the governmebt for the development of small scale contractors programmes ensures that local contractors contribute to the growth of the economy.. while there are ethical issues to be considered in the construction industry, the transparency international (2005) notes that the industry is classified as the most fraudulent industry worldwide. studies carried out in various countries such as united states of america (usa) (fmi/cmaa, 2004; jackson, 2013), australia (vee & skitmore, 2003), south africa (pearl, et al., 2005), and hong kong (fan & fox, 2005) provide evidence that the construction industry is plagued with ethical issues due to its substantial capital investments (adnan, et al., 2012). additionally, adman et al. (2012) stated that unethical practices can take place at every phase of a construction project, during planning and design, pre-qualification and tender, project execution and operation and maintenance. such practices have been seen to result in projects which when completed, are considered unnecessary, unsuitable, overlay complex components, overpriced or delayed as postulated by hamzah et al. (2010) akintan and morledge (2013) and dainty et al. (2001). within the zambian construction industry, unethical issues arise from sme’s tendency of selling their subcontracted portions back to main contractors (muya & mukumbwa, 2013). literature has shown that there is a general propensity of transmitting huge risks on the projects to small scale contracting firms whose capacity is inadequate to manage the risks (cidb, 2013; marzouk, et al., 2013; laryea, 2010). this makes subcontractors uncertain of main contractors on their authenticity in the association. on the other hand, main contraintors are uncomfortable with subcontractors as they consider them to under employ or employ unskilled employees thus affecting the rate at which the works on site are implemented, thereby leading to conflicts. the subcontractor’s lack of capacity is often used as an excuse for harsh conditions and terms leading to failure to meet project set objectives (construction excellence, 2004). various studies to improve subcontracting practice from the point of registration, to selection and monitoring have been done (ng, et al., 2008). according to lew et al., (2012), most of the researchers focus on constituents that influence m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 63 subcontracting and on the development of new techniques that can be used for subcontractor selection or management . kulemeka et al. (2015) notes that it is critical for governments to continuously review policies on contractor development programmes to ensure contribution to their success. while yoke-lian et al. (2012) indicated that effective subcontractor selection and monitoring would minimise the problems during construction. additionally, laryea (2010) emphasised that governments has a lot to do to enhance capacity for subcontractors to be involved in large projects through the creation of access to capital and improve structures. 2.1 subcontracting policy, practices and challenges many countries are encouraging the promotion of smes who are mostly subcontracted, strive to industrialise and bring about economic development, for governments developing policies that encourage subcontracting (hoban & francis, 2010). the participation of local constructing firms as subcontractors to foreign firms is an important element in the concept of skills and technology transfer as well as building the capacities of local contractors (abu bakar & tufail, 2012). choudry et al. (2012) pointed out that as a deliberate policy, governments should formulate regulatory bodies to monitor the policy implemetation on subcontracting. however, cibd (2013) postulate that successful skills and technology transfer happens if both the main and subcontractors are on long-term strategic relationships, as most subcontractors are reluctant to share confidential information with other companies, especially financial information. wells (2000) postulates that the construction industry in africa is characterised by extensive subcontracting, temporary and insecure employment, and poor working conditions. the cidb (2013) study on subcontracting in the construction industry in south africa, indicated that legislative and policy interventions around subcontracting should be aimed at improving the environment within which subcontracting takes place. in south africa, various projects that are related to the public sector encourage the development of local economies by the adherence to set policies and regulatory requirements as can be seen in the targets set on the socio-economic front on training and development of skills, employment of the locals and the black economic empowerment , (cidb, 2013). however, mwanaumo et al. (2014) argued that contractors feel that such requirements on projects have worked well especially in creating employment, but are difficult to sustain in times of difficult economic climate where projects are hard to come by. cheng et al. (2011) in the research on evluating subcontractor performance proposed twelve (12) significant factors to be included in the subcontractor selection policy and concluded that trained input-output mapping relationship and subcontractor final scores should be used as key policy factors in building subcontractor capacity. however, laryea, (2010) in the ghana study on the evolution of indegenous constractors revelead that with the dominance of foreign contractors, local contractors lack capacity to carry out major projects and hence recommended the government to develop policies that would encourage local participation including subcontrating them in huge contracts to develop skills. it has been argued that there is no common practice that is standard, in the formulation of subcontracting policy and each country comes up with its own framework based on the local factors, prime contractors, clients the other related policies that support subcontracting (choudry, et al., 2012). they noted that some of the factors that could positively encourage local contractor capacity building should include technical and professional training through knowledge and skills transfer in financial, managerial, technical and technology transfer; efficient communication; evaluate roles and responsibilities for enforcement. this was also affirmed by cidb (2013) and martin (2010) who added that these factors should be guiding the subcontracting policy formulation and should aim at improving the environment in which subcontracting takes place, the contract forms and improve at management level the organisational aspects of the attached to subcontracting firms. thwala and mvubu (2007) however, suggested that identification of local capacity is imperative for planning purposes in future projects. they also added that the usage of an integrated construction unit method of procurement helps in growing local contractors in economies such as that in developing countries. kalemuka et al. (2015) and cibd (2013) emphasised training at planning and design stage be incorporated for local contractors. while muya & mukumbwa (2013) proposed that a policy should have integrity improvements in the supply of equipment done by deducting costs at the beginning of certification, and consultants should approve payments to be executed by local contractors who are expected to be available for a particular period they are engaged. a similar notion was also attested by abbasianjahromi, et al. (2013). nonetheless, though subcontracting is widely used in the developed world, it has been criticised to bring about challenges for the firm that is subcontracted and these challenges are mostly common in developing countries than in developed countries according to mlenga (2002). the zambian 20% subcontracting policy features provide for empowering and capacity building of local contractors, , employment creation for zambian people and mandatory subcontracting of 20% of the contract sum be allocated to local contractors on all public projects awarded to foreign contractors. however, zambia has been experiencing challenges to implement the policy requirement (kaliba, 2015). kaliba (2015) pointed that the 20% subcontracting policy is not legally supported as it has not been passed through parliament for ratification and has no existing guideline for implementation, while main contractors are uninterested in helping local contractors, and there is evidence of poor planning to help the local contractors build capacity in managing subcontracted works. while choudry et al. (2012) noted that knowledge sharing is very power between main contractors as they prefer to continue enjoying the monopoly. several challenges have been highlighted from subcontracting firms by the cidb (2013) and range from lack of security payment, weak management practices, poor attitudes, skills shortages, lack of working capital and failure to meet up with the competition from low 64 m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 barriers to entry. these challenges inhibit subcontractors to grow their companies and move to a higher grading system, and thus fail to execute quality work. however, some improvements to the subcontracting policies in countries were similar or related policies have been adopted have suggested review of the policy if its not working (abbasianjahromi, et al., 2013). this was also affirmed by kaliba (2015) though he noted that even if the policy can be reviewed, the client needs to have a long term plan on assisting local subcontractors in capacity building to meet deliverable milestones. 3. research methodology the study sought to examine practises in subcontracting to develop a framework of capacity building for the zambian local contractors within the construction sector. the study adopted the exploratory mixed method approach in which semi-structured interviews and a survey questionnaire were used. only 26 out of the targeted 30 stakeholders participated in the interviews to obtain an in-depth understanding (creswell, 2014) of the subcontracting practices in zambia. the target group included management of subcontractors, main contractors, clients and consultants. data was captured through audio recording and note taking and was analysed using thematic analysis. purposive sampling was used because it purposely targets a group of people perceived to be reliable and useful to inform the field survey questionnaire (creswell, 2014) which was pretested for validity. a sample size of 70 was adopted for convenience of which a total of 50 questionnaires were successfully completed giving a response rate of 71.4% and hence acceptable (creswell, 2014). the distribution was as presented in table 1. table 1: questionnaire distribution per project and category of respondents group no. of projects no. distributed clients 5 10 consultants 3 20 main contractors (grade 1 to 3) 8 10 subcontractors (grade 4 to 6) 24 30 total 40 70 the structured questionnaire survey was based on the 40 projects implemented between 20th march 2012 and 20th april 2015 and targeted foreign contractors, local contractors, consultants and clients. clients included technical persons working for government ministries and agencies. consultants were drawn from member firms of the association of consulting engineers while contractors were drawn from organisations registered with the national council for construction (ncc) (2014) in category b, c and r and grades 1 to 6 which was biased to road and building construction sectors. the study respondents rated the statements using a 5-point likert scale of 1 to 5. the results from the survey questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistical techniques while microsoft excel spreadsheets and statistical package for social science (spss) version 26 were used as tools. 4. results the following are the results from the survey questionnaire approach: 4.1 category and grade of companies’ registration this section of the findings presents information on characteristics of the respondents who were contractors. the results represent the contractors in the building (b), civil engineering (c) and roads (r) categories. these are recipients of the many public contracts related to the construction of scools and hospitals, health posts, roads and bridges. the highest percentage of the respondents at 27% came from the category 4r followed by the category 1r at 22%; the category 6r at 14%; the categories of 1b, 1c and 6b were at 9% and, lastly, those in 5r and 5b categories were at 5%. the distribution of contractors according to categories and grades obtained from ncc is presented in table 2. table 2: category and grade of companies’ registration category and grade of companies percentage of respondents 1r 22% 4r 27% 5r 5% 6r 14% 1b 9% 1c 9% 5b 5% 6b 9% 4.2 contractual arrangements the proportion of respondents who had been involved in traditional contractual arrangement was 71% followed by those who had been involved in the design and build at 16%. the third common arrangement was the integrated construction unit (icu) which accounted for 10% while 3% had experience in the management contracting method. table 3 represents a summary of the findings. table 3: results of respondents based on contractual arrangements contractual arrangements percentage of respondents traditional method 71% management contracting 3% design and build 16% integrated construction unit 10% on the preference of the contractual method for the subcontracting policy, it was established that 48% of the respondents favoured traditional methods of procurement while 45% were of the view that the management contracting method would be better in implementing the policy. however, 5% and 2% preferred integrated construction unit, and design and build method respectively. m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 65 4.3 analysis on implementation, constraints and improvements to the policy the respondents were asked to rate statements concerning the mandatory subcontracting policy on a likert scale of 1 to 5. a total of 46 statements obtained from preliminary interviews and literature review were adopted for this study. the nine statements relating to inadequacies of the mandatory subcontracting policy were established and included “the 20% subcontracting policy is not legally supported as it did not pass through parliament for ratification; and difficult to grow capacity of local contractors using the 20% subcontracting policy as main contractors are not interested in building capacities of local contractors due to lack of incentives”. other statements include “the lack of strategic plan on subcontracting makes it difficult to build capacity of local contractors, no participation of subcontractors in the determination of work; and main contractors want to retain maximum benefits, thus reluctant to subcontract”. additionally, main contractors are not willing to impart skills on subcontractors in order for them to continue enjoying the monopoly; lack of local contractor capacity infringes on main contractors to build capacity for local contractors ; there are no clear guidelines on the implementation of the policy. lastly, subcontractors do not participate in the procurement process and are only introduced after contracts are awarded. these statements are similar to the ones in the literature reviewed such as by cibd (2013), kulemeka et al. (2015), kaliba (2015), mbachu (2008), abbasianjahromi, et al. (2013) and thwala and mvubu (2007). 4.3.1 inadequacies in the 20% mandatory subcontracting policy the statements submitted by respondents were analysed with respect to the 20% subcontracting policy inadequescies. the results show that out of the nine statements, six had a man mean score greater that 3.5 . the descriptive statistics are presented in table 4 indicting that there were dissimilarities in the way respondents alleged the existing inadequacies of the mandatory subcontracting policy by different construction practitioners in zambia. table 4: descriptive statistics of inadequacies in the mandatory subcontracting policy no. statement mean score variance mean score > 3.5 1. the 20% subcontracting policy is not legally supported as it did not pass through parliament for ratification 3.39 2.021 2. difficult to grow capacity of local contractors using the 20% subcontracting policy as a result of lacking interest by main contractors in local contractor capacity building due to lack of incentives. 3.64 1.801 yes 3. lack of strategic plan on subcontracting makes it challenging to build local contractors capacity. 3.89 1.445 yes 4. no participation of subcontractors in the determination of work 3.81 1.815 yes 5. main contractors want to retain maximum benefits, thus reluctant to subcontract 4.20 1.672 yes 6. main contractors are not willing to impart skills to subcontractors so as to continue enjoying the monopoly 3.48 2.211 7. lack of capacity of local contractors make it difficult to build capacity of local contractors by main contractors. 3.00 1.745 8. no clear guidelines on the implementation of the policy 3.67 1.546 yes 9. subcontractors don’t participate in the procurement process and only introduced after contract is awarded 4.10 1.635 yes the statements from table 4 were further analysed in order to identify those which were either important or very important. the cut off point for the mean score was set at 3.5. out of the nine statements, six were found to have a mean score greater than 3.5. after taking a standard t-test it was found that only four statements were statistically significant (p<0.05) and they include: subcontractors don’t participate in the procurement process and only introduced after contract is awarded; and no participation of subcontractors in the determination of work. the other two are: no clear guidelines on the implementation of the policy, and difficult to grow capacity of local contractors using the 20% subcontracting policy as there is disinterest in capacity building of local contractors by main contractors because of lacking incentives. 4.3.2 improvements to the 20% mandatory subcontracting policy the results from this part of the questionnaire were analysed with respect to respondents’ perception on possible improvements to the implementation of the subcontracting policy. the initial stages of the analysis used descriptive statistics and the results are presented in table 5. 4.4 interview results the purpose of the interviews was to obtain an in-depth understanding on how the various stakeholders in zambia view 20% subcontracting policy. the interviewees agreed that “work allocation has to be done by the engineer/consultant at design stage instead of foreign or main contractors in order to remove bias”. the subcontractors indicated that they needed to be involved in work allocation. on establishing the common methods of engaging contractors, the interviewees stated that “it would be difficult to achieve the objective of empowering and creating jobs for the local contractors if main contractors were left alone to engage subcontractors”. prefernance on the nominating of clients was justified that “it would enhance fairness and reduce the cases of main contractors buying off subcontracts whilst pretending to have subcontracted”. 66 m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 on awareness of the subcontracting policy, the results showed that generally the respondents understood the main features of the 20% subcontracting policy. over 90% of the interviewees stated that the main features of the subcontracting policy included: (i) mandatory subcontracting of 20% of the contract sum to local contractors on public projects provided the contract sum was above thirty million kwacha and contract was awarded to a foreign contractor; (ii) building capacities and empowering local contractors; and (iii) fostering employment creation for the zambian people. to assess if the policy addresses the interests of both main and subcontractors, about 76% indicated that the current policy does not support the interest of contractors and their subcontractors. however, when asked about the functionality of the laws in the construction sector, majority of the respondents, 64%, were affirmative while 36% were not sure. to establish challenges in implementing the subcontracting policy, the data was recoded and analysed qualitatively. the main reasons, in order of importance, attributed to the policy’s failure to meeting the interests of the main and subcontractors included: (i) lack of interest by main foreign contractors to build capacity of local contractors; (ii) main contractors view subcontractors as potential competitors; (iii) main contractors not willing to subcontract 20% of the contract sum; (iv) main contractors allocate low value works to subcontractors so that they maximise profits; (v) lack of experience, personnel, equipment and poor financial resources among local subcontractors; (vi) insufficient capacity in project management among subcontractors inhibits the possibility of subcontracting 20% of huge or high value projects. table 5: descriptive statistics of constraints to the subcontracting policy no. statement mean score variance mean score > 3.5 1. reviewing the current policy on subcontracting so that is can include supporting and key sectors considered significant in the construction industry. 4.59 0.455 yes 2. need for the client to strategically plan on local contractor capacity building through deliverables that are attainaible e.g. upgrading in every 3 years, at least 10 grade 1 contractors. 4.50 0.511 yes 3. identification of local contractors by clients who have the capacity to develop so that they can be placed in 5 years deliberate programmes. 4.12 1.110 yes 4. using interated construction unitmethod of procuring works done by local contractors for them to grow. 4.16 0.723 yes 5. training identified local contractors by consultants based on the works identified. 4.00 1.333 yes 6. client to procure equipment from suppliers for the identified local contractors and start deducting the cost through interim payment certificates for a medium term period 3.76 1.730 yes 7. consultants approve payments made by local contrators identified 4.10 0.802 yes 8. the project design to include identified local contractors training 4.18 0.653 yes 9. ensure the availability of work for a period of 3 years for all identified local contractors. 4.14 0.833 yes 10. provision of development of skills and employment with main contractors continues in other related projects 4.27 0.883 yes 5. discussion the study identified four major inadequacies of the 20% mandatory subcontracting policy. the first one relates to non-participation of subcontractors in the procurement process as they are introduced onto the project after award of contract to the main contractor. this inadequacy was also similar to the insufficiency that was highlighted by hoban and francis (2010) in their study on improving the relationship between contractors and subcontractors. the second inadequacy relates to non-participation of subcontractors in the determination of work. this was also highlighted as a major concern in the procurement system of subcontractors and considered a major challenge in traditional procurement method (mwanaumo, et al., 2014; akintan & morledge, 2013) culminating to inappropriate periods of activities that critical at projects duration of critical activities. however, the study found that adequate and broad view of information about the works was not properly done, thereby increasing programme failure possibilities and leading to project delays (hoban & francis, 2010; cidb, 2013). to avert this inadequacy, it would be necessary to engage subcontractors during the design stage, a sentiment which was shared by ng et al. (2008) . the awareness level in technical professional subcontracting was found to be high from clients, consultants and contractors, and a similar result was affirmed by akanni and osmadi (2015) that such subcontracting was widely used. the study also established the third inadequacy that lack of clear guidelines on the implementation of the m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 67 policy was one of the major deficiencies of the mandatory subcontracting policy as applied in zambia. cidb (2013) underscored the importance of legislation and policy interventions around subcontracting firms in a bid to improve the environment within which subcontracting takes place. in the absence of clear guidelines, policy implementation would be a challenge and subject to individual interpretation (cidb, 2013). policy should be accompanied by clear strategies on building local contractors capacities. the strategy must be clear as how many local contractors have to be upgraded according to the ncc classification (ncc, 2018). this relates to kulemaka et al. (2015) on the notion that proving an environment that empowers an small subcontracting firms include the elimination of entry to market barriers , growth and sustainability. the fourth inadequacy established that the 20% subcontracting policy made it futile for local contractors to build capacity because thare was lack of interest by main contracors to assit build capacity attributed to due to lack of incentives. this finding relates to the adversarial relationship which exists between main contractors and subcontractors. the findings agree with kaliba (2015) and choudry et al. (2012) whose assertion was based on unconcerned main contractors in developing local contractors subcontracted under them. main and subcontractors operate with the conflict theory which emphasises the presence of conflicting forces in society, social structures, groups and individuals generally (abbasianjahromi, et al., 2013; akintan & morledge, 2013). the theory perceives the society of humans as a gathering of interest groups and individual that are competitive with each other in relation to motives and expectations. however, this was non affirmative from the study which established that the zambian construction industry’s main contractors are not willing to subcontract their works. subcontractors can therefore be enganged through nomination by clients. however, yoke-lian et al. (2012) and laryea (2010) difficulties are attained when striving to empower and create jobs for loal contractors whenever main contractors are engage subcontractors on their own.the study disclosed that preference in the nomination of subcontractors by clients enhances fairness and reduces the cases of main contractors buying off subcontracts whilst pretending to have subcontracted. the study findings is affirmative with that of mwanaumo et al. (2018) in which subcontracts were alleged to be bought off by main contractors. hence, it is logical to conclude that, once main contractors were left alone to implement the policy in its current state, very few subcontractors would be engaged. improvements and modifications to the policy enables mandatory subcontracting policy reviews that includes all other sectors in the zambian construction industry in order to empower and create jobs for local contractors. this is in line with kumaraswamy and mathews (2000) who avowed that the contribution of subcontractors in other sectors of construction is more than 50% and as much as 90% of the total project value to a construction process. other improvements include the identification of local contractors with potencial for growth under a deliberate programme; using interated construction unitmethod of procuring works done by local contractors for them to grow.; training identified local contractors by consultants based on the works identified.; and consultants approve payments made by local contrators. these relates to findings by thwala and mvubu (2007). the study also gathered that at project design, training of local contractors be included; ensuring that works are made accessible in not less than 3 years for local contractors identified; and the continuation of skills development and employment in other projects subcontracted by main contractors for the identified local contractors and are in line with cidb (2013). the study established that empowering and developing capacities of small scale contractors involves strategic planning on the part of government. the findings on this study conforms with the findings of kulemeka (2015) who established that the comprehensive and detailed planning processes with set quantitative and qualitative targets guide implementing institutions. however, thwala and phaladi (2009) stated in their study that significant lessons can be drawn from those initiatives that have been done before such as advocate the interest of emerging contractors and ensure that policies and procedures in the construction industry create an environment conducive to the development and promotion of emerging contractors; increase the participation of emerging contractors in construction activities; substantially increase the emerging construction enterprises share of work opportunities within the public sector. additionally, several proposals were made to develop a subcontracting policy framework as a starting point and a means to develop local contractors’ capacities so that they can participate major contracts implementation in the country. this was the basis and one of the main study objective. 5.1 development of the subcontracting policy framework the study established that the majority of construction companies in zambia are small scale in nature. thwala and phaladi (2009) mentioned in their study that one success factor was not effective to the success of small scale contractors unless different factors are considered to ensure that the capacity is developed in the local contractors, a model was developed. the subcontracting framework was developed to ameet the objectives of the 20%the 20% mandatory subcontracting policy as illustrated in figure 1. the key stakeholders involved are: the client (public, private or quasi-government), the consultant (engineers, architects, and quantity surveyors), the equipment suppliers or key material suppliers, commercial banks and financial institutions, the main contractors and the subcontractors. the framework is in two ways, firstly the client can make a preliminary assessment whether or not proposed project can be used for capacity building program. and secondly, if a project is useful for capacity building, the client proceeds with the procurement of a design and supervision consultant whose responsibility includes: designing of the project; preparation of project specifications as well as work breakdown packages for the subcontractors; and project supervisionthe consultant can 68 m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 then allocate a prime cost sum to identified works for subcontracting and then propose the equipment and key project materials required for the subcontracting works. figure 1: subcontracting framework for capacity building key points regarding the proposed framework include: the client would provide advance payment to subcontractors to kick start the subcontracting works; a meeting would be set up for all the stakeholders involved to explain the roles and responsibilities of all the parties to the contract; during the project implementation process, the cost of the procured equipment/key project materials would be deducted proportionately through the interim payment certificates (ipcs); the authorisation on the use of funds would not be left to the subcontractors alone; the client would guarantee contracts for the earmarked subcontractors for the project duration to ensure that the equipment and or key project materials procured during this time would be paid for by the subcontractors from proceeds of the project. 5.2 stages and roles of the stakeholders in the framework no no yes can the project be used for capacity building program? client procures a design and supervision consultant for the project client and other stakeholders review the project design client engages main contractor main contractor engages subcontractor identified by client project implementation, monitoring & evaluation is the subcontractor performing well? subcontractor are upgraded and allowed to graduate from the capacity building program subcontractors with developed capacity now bid for major works on their own client engages capacity building consultant client identifies and engages equipment dealers/key project materials suppliers client secures line of credit for the equipment/key project materials equipment/key project materials are supplied to subcontractors follow traditional method of procurement of works client identifies subcontractors for client: private or public exiting of subcontractors found wanting client procures consultant client procures consultant client procures main contractor for works main contractor engages sub contractors training of subcontractors investigation of failure to perform yes m. mambwe et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 60-70 69 the client is the employer of the project team members. the client has the responsibility of empowering and building capacities of its citizens. the client will have the overall responsibility and control of the project. the client will have to assess initially if the project can be used for capacity development of subcontractors or not. the consultant is responsible for designing and supervising the works. the consultant would be responsible for allocating works for subcontracting at design stage. works to be subcontracted would be reviewed together with the client and other stakeholders upon completion of the designs by the consultant. at this stage, comments on work allocation are added. the consultant’s overall responsibility is of delivering the project. the capacity development consultant is responsible for supervising and providing training to the subcontractors. the training package include technical and financial management while subcontractors will be encouraged to maintain qualified personnel. the capacity development consultant would advise and report to the client on all matters relating to subcontracting and capacity development of subcontractors. this stage shall be used to review the designs and works allocated to subcontractors. the stakeholders involved in the review process include the capacity development consultant, design consultant, client and any other stakeholders relevant to the capacity development programme. this stage would eliminate the allocation of low value works to subcontractors. the client will issue the expression of interest for local contractors. then the client will have a list of local contractors according to their specialisation. capacity development criteria would be developed in order to shortlist the local contractors. the subcontractors for capacity development programme would then be nominated from the list of approved local contractors. the equipment/key materials suppliers will provide materials, equipment and back up spares to the subcontractors through the projects. the suppliers of equipment will provide on-site service and training to subcontractors’ personnel for sustainability purposes. key materials like cement, steel, fuel, bitumen, aggregates to mention but just a few would provide reasonable boost to the implementation of the project by the subcontractors who are usually financially week compared to major foreign contractors. the role of main and subcontractors would be to deliver the project according to the specifications to the client. the subcontractors will have a duty to learn and develop their technical and financial management skills from the main contractors and consultants. the scope of works for subcontractors will be well defined in the contract documents. the contracts will also provide the criteria on how performance and quality required for the works will be measured, the methods for performance measurement and the acceptance. the terms and conditions for subcontracting will be included in the contract documents, especially payment terms, retention, advance payment bond, defect liability period and liquidated damages. the monitoring of the subcontractors and the project would be carried out for purposes of checking progress and evaluating the capacity building programme. the evaluation would also be carried out to assess which subcontractors would graduate from the programme. the process would also be used to reassess those subcontractors failing to perform. performing subcontractors would be recommended for upgrade according to ncc grades and categories. at the end of the project, it is expected that some subcontractors would have been capacitated and upgraded. the upgraded local contractors would then be assisted to tender jobs with high values especially those who will be in grades 1and 2. 6. conclusions and recommendations the paper examined the mandatory 20% subcontracting policy in the zambian construction sector. the policy was formulated to help bridge the gap between firms of foreign origin and indigenous contractors. through this study, it was established that the current policy has four major deficiencies in as far as meeting the objectives of empowering and building capacities of local contractors is concerned. the mandatory subcontracting policy operates within the traditional procurement realm where the main contractors normally engage subcontractors to carry out part of their contractual work based on the skill and capacity set which 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[online] available at: http://znbc.co.zm. jcbm (2018) 2(2).15-23 a career path framework for quantity surveyors in nigeria private practice j. o. dada 1 1.department of quantity surveying, obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria received 1 june 2017; received in revised form 16 august 2017, 21 june 2018; accepted 27 june 2018 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.94 abstract in a typical organization, career path helps employees to understand what is expected of them based on the positions they occupied. this also allows them to participate in managing their career progress. many quantity surveying firms do not have career development path for their quantity surveyor (qs) employees and this has limited their performance at work. this paper, therefore, develops a career path framework for quantity surveyors in private practice in nigeria. a combination of survey and interviews were employed to elicit the required data. the study population are in two categories. firstly, the quantity surveying firms, while the respondents in the firms are the principal partners and their employees. the second category is the chairmen of the state chapters of the nigerian institute of quantity surveyors. the findings of the study establish the career path progression for a quantity surveyor in private practice which ranges from trainee quantity surveyor, assistant quantity surveyor, quantity surveyor, senior quantity surveyor, principal quantity surveyor, chief quantity surveyor, partner and principal partner/consultant in that order. the proposed conceptual framework signifies and demonstrates the necessary benchmark to resolving common problems about career progression and development among quantity surveyor in private practice. this is seen as having a positive effect on harmonious working relationship and quality service delivery. keywords: career development, career path, framework, nigeria, private practice, quantity surveyors. 1. introduction the world has witnessed and still witnessing massive changes in technology, social, political and economic orders. many of these changes appear as threats to the quantity surveying profession but only to the pessimist because more significant opportunities have been and are still being created (ikedionwu, 2016). the quantity surveyor plays a significant role in the management of construction projects by acquiring and deploying appropriate competencies (nkado and meyer, 2001). the exact nature of their role depends on who employs them. the professional quantity surveyor engaged by the client and the contractor's quantity surveyor have different roles to play in any construction project. the contractor's quantity surveyor role is far more than measurement and quantification but extends to administration and commercial management of construction contract (towey, 2012). vfm group (2008) summarized the principal role of a chartered quantity surveyor in ensuring that the building client receives value for money. 1 corresponding author. tel: +234 803 572 9341 email address: debbyjoe2002@yahoo.com back in 1971 the royal institution of chartered surveyors (rics) defined the traditional role and described the distinctive competence of the quantity surveyor as a skill in measurement and valuation in the field of construction in order that such work can be described, the cost and price forecasted, analysed, planned, controlled and accounted for. however, phen and ming (1997); rics (1993); rics (1998); bqsm (2004); arifin and torrance (2008); aiqs (2004); paqs (2001) githaiga (2004) and, chiu and ng (2015) explicitly highlighted the role of quantity surveyor in private practice. these include feasibility study, development appraisal, cost planning and control, contract documentation and administration, project management, procurement management, risk management, litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution, technical auditing and valuation for fire insurance. growth or progress, in any profession, is expected or made when one climbs from one level to higher one either by having more knowledge, acquiring more skills or having higher output. (anunike, 2016). grugulis (2003) opined that qualifications could help employers identify university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.2.2.2018.94 mailto:debbyjoe2002@yahoo.com 16 j. o. dada / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 15-23 suitable employees, provide individuals with portable credentials, and give occupational groups bargaining power. this notwithstanding, there is dichotomy in quantity surveyors’ recruitment, placement and promotion in private practice when compared with those in public service in nigeria. in public service, there exists a regulated scheme of service for all cadres of staff irrespective of their professional affiliation, but this is not the case in private practice primarily for quantity surveying. this makes it difficult for employees to put in their best in such an organization where there is no clear plan on how they will progress on their jobs over the years. thus, it is of considerable importance to have in place a formal career path system for quantity surveyor employees in private practice. this is seen to take account of and encourage the career management of prospective employee which is vital to high-quality service delivery. the purpose of this paper, therefore, is to provide a career path framework that could serve as a regulated scheme of service and career pathway metrics for quantity surveyors in private practice. in doing this, a literature review, to clarify the theory and key concepts that provided the background for the study, was first conducted. this is followed by the explanation of the research and analytical methods. the findings and results were thereafter presented and discussed. 2. literature review 2.1 the theoretical concept collins english dictionary (2012) defined career as a person’s course or progress through life. this definition relates career to a range of aspects of an individual's learning and work through life. according to hrzone (2016), career paths are routes that individuals take from their first engagement into the job market through to their final position before retirement. this definition can be expanded to include even after retirement. national career pathways network (2012) defined career pathway as a coherent, articulated sequence of rigorous academic and career or technical courses, commencing in the ninth grade and leading to an associate degree, baccalaureate degree and beyond, an industry-recognized certificate, and licensure. simply put, career pathways are a method of developing and organizing curricula across different strands of careers. the teaching, counselling, and assessment that support career pathways are also designed to focus students toward career goals beyond graduation, the result being passports and a portfolio as evidence of work readiness. the objectives of career pathways are to help students or employees to understand and consider career options, discover workplaces and their relationship to curricula, make choices about future education and training, understand the expectations for achieving career goals, maintain portfolios of progress and achievement, and become flexible but focused employees. heathfield (2014) defined career pathing as the process used by an employee to chart a course within an organization for his or her career path and career development. it involves understanding what knowledge, skills, personal characteristics, and experience are required for an employee to progress in his or her career laterally or through access to promotion. society for human resources management (shrm) (2015) viewed career development as the process by which individuals establish their current and future career objectives and assess their existing skill, knowledge or experience levels and implement an appropriate course of action to obtain their desired career objectives. a career development model facilitates this process by providing pre-defined career paths or ladders which shrm defines as the "progression of jobs in an organization's specific occupational field ranked from the lowest to the highest hierarchy. career management describes the active and purposeful management of a career by an individual. ideas of what comprise "career management skills" are described by the blueprint model/framework (in the united states, canada, australia, scotland, and england (hooley, et al (2013)) and the seven c's of digital career literacy (specifically relating to the internet skills (hooley, 2012). 2.2. the significance of career path model or framework in an organisation career path frameworks are often used to describe the progress path of an individual in an organization. hollmann and elliot, (2006) viewed this as a technical ladder. once a model or platform is created, the organization has all the information needed to readily create job description and job postings as needed, with assurance that the job posting meets business requirements as well as specific job requirements. the career path approach, according to centre for postsecondary and economic success (2013), strengthens existing education and workforce services from a myriad of disconnected programmes to a structure that focuses on the individuals in need of education and training and their career paths. it provides clear transitions, strong supports, and other elements critical to the success of participants. giamalvo (2016) presented a five-level functional career track progression in typical project control and cost management organization with similar credentials and experience. the functional levels are intermediate, professional, advanced, expert and fellow; which roughly corresponds to career progression from being a fresh graduate getting the first job to becoming a senior practitioner. the author stressed further that the approach enables the integration between the needs of employers who are hiring practitioners who hold these credentials and those individuals and organizations who develop and deliver training to prepare practitioners to qualify for these jobs via the certification process. love et al. (2001) emphasized the importance of companies recruiting graduates not to view graduates’ acquired education as teaching them about their workplace but as a foundation from which industrial experience will be built into them. as the move towards “outcome” or “results based” education and training, where courses are being designed to prepare people for actual jobs when they graduate, continues to grow; it becomes imperative for those developing/delivering training programs focus on those skills and competencies which are in demand (giamalvo, 2017). raiden and dainty (2006) argued that employers have to leverage on their employees’ need for development and also their j. o. dada / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 17 needs in meeting the competitive business environment. in this regard, chiu and ng (2015) recommended that quantity surveying firm managers should place more efforts on improving their employee's job satisfaction to enhance their commitment to the organization. this, according to chan and moehler (2008), mandates employers to contribute to the career development of their employees and chan (2007) sees it as very key to ensuring a sustainable skill base. the outcome of onukwube (2012)'s study, which established a significant relationship between job satisfaction of quantity surveyors and the work itself, buttressed this view. the study recommended that quantity surveying firms’ management should provide opportunities for career growth to quantity surveyors in their employment. 2.3. the quantity surveyor's career path system in nigeria working environment quantity surveyors provide financial and commercial management services on construction projects. they are employed in different working fields within the construction sector. cartlidge (2009) categorised this, principally, as private practice and contracting organization. quantity surveyors working in private practice are often described as professional quantity surveyor (pqs) while those in contracting organizations are called contracting quantity surveyors (cqs). they may also work within development companies, commercial organizations, financial institutions and in public sector. as such their involvement in construction projects varies. this is mostly dependent on individual project scheme and mode of procurement (cunningham, 2014). traditionally, competence in surveying has been defined by its knowledge base, but the rics has developed its membership requirements from examination through to a more comprehensive assessment of an acceptable level of proficiency expected of a qualified surveyor, which attempts to be both more carefully defined and also flexible enough to encourage development with changing markets (westcott and burnside, 2003). due to the vastness of the roles of modern quantity surveyors, a nigerian graduate quantity surveyor works in different fields and organization with a variety of nomenclature. nigerian institute of quantity surveyors (niqs, 2015) categorized these nomenclatures as public sector (federal, states and local governments, ministries, departments, agencies and institutions); private sector (consultancy practices, financial institutions; oil and gas companies; building and engineering firms; property development companies; and so forth). ikedionwu (2016) summarized the potential employer of quantity surveyors, in nigeria, into the following categories – consultancy firms; contractors and subcontractors; government and private client organizations. this is illustrated in figure 1. figure 1: potential employers of quantity surveyors in nigeria (ikedionwu, 2016) wherever quantity surveyors work or employed, their roles remain very important in financial accountability, value for money and profitability (willis et al., 1994) in competitive business environment. the nigerian civil (public) service consists of employees in government agencies other than the military. they progress based on qualifications and seniority. quantity surveyors in the nigeria public service deal with the control of projects in a wide range of sizes as well as maintenance and repair works. willis et al. (1994) had long given the primary responsibility of quantity surveyors as controlling public money and monitoring the way it is being spent. as earlier reiterated, the key public service for quantity surveyors includes employment in government ministries, departments and agencies. table 1 gives the scheme of service for quantity surveyors cadre in nigerian civil service. graduate qs consultancy firms subcontractors government organizations private clients young entrepreneurs purely quantity surveying; multidisciplinary: purely architectural; purely engineering; management consultants building; civil; mech. /elect.; heavy engineering federal, state and local government; ministries; parastatals; military; paramilitary; academics; others by choice; by circumstance core construction; non-core; non-construction related 40 j. o. dada / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 15-23 table 1: nigerian scheme of service for civil (public) servants (quantity surveyor cadre) (federal republic of nigeria, 2003) s/n rank entry qualification duties salary scale next rank 1 quantity surveyor ii direct appointment of a candidate possessing 5 o’ level credits (wasc/neco/gce) including english language and mathematics plus a first degree in quantity surveying with a minimum of second class lower division. assisting in the preparation of bills of quantities and estimates of proposed works. carrying out valuation for interim certificates of payments. carrying out other duties as may be assigned and providing professional and community service. *contiss 07 2 quantity surveyor i promotion of a confirmed and suitable quantity surveyor ii who has spent at least three years on the grade. direct appointment of a candidate possessing (a) first degree plus three years post qualification relevant experience or (b) master’s degree in relevant area. same duties as specified above. contiss 08 senior quantity surveyor 3 senior quantity surveyor promotion of a confirmed and suitable quantity surveyor i who has spent at least three years on the post with satisfactory record of service direct appointment of a candidate possessing 5 o’ level credits (wasc/neco/gce/) including english language and mathematics plus (a) first degree plus six years post qualification cognate experience, or (b) master’s degree plus three years post-graduation cognate experience. preparing bills, quantities and estimates of proposed works. carrying out valuation for interim certificates of payments and serve as quantity surveyor and cost planner on major projects and control costs of construction works. carrying out other duties as m ay be assigned and provide professional’ and community service. participating in the preparation of bills of quantities and estimates of proposed works. carrying out valuation for interim certificates of payments and serve as quantity surveyor on medium projects. carrying out other duties as may be assigned and provide professional and community service. contiss 09 principal quantity surveyors 4 principal quantity surveyor promotion of a confirmed and suitable senior quantity surveyor who has spent at least three years on the grade. direct appointment of a candidate possessing 5 o’ level credits (wasc/neco/gce/) including english language and mathematics plus (a) first degree plus nine years post qualification experience, or (b) master’s degree plus six years post qualification cognate experience same as specified in 3 above. assessing financial implications of project proposals and advise on cost decisions. carrying out other duties as may be assigned. contiss 11 chief quantity surveyor j. o. dada / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 41 5 chief quantity surveyor promotion of a confirmed and suitable principal quantity surveyor who has spent at least three years on the grade. preparing bill of quantities and estimates of proposed works and carry out valuation for interim certificates of payment. serving as quantity surveyor and cost planner, or major projects and control cost of construction works. assessing financial implications of project proposals and advising on cost decisions and assist in annual capital estimates preparations, review of rolling plans and updating fixed assets register. carrying out other duties as may be assigned and providing professional and community service. contiss 13 deputy director 6 deputy director promotion of a confirmed and suitable chief quantity surveyor who has spent at least three years on the post. performing at higher level, similar duties specified above. carries out other duties as may be assigned and providing professional and community service. contiss 14 director 7 director appointment only. contiss 15 * contiss consolidated tertiary institution salary structure in nigerian public service 3. research method the research methodology adopted for this study includes delphi survey method. the method involves conduct of rounds of survey on group of experts in a particular field with the intention of eliciting a consensus opinion on an issue (yousuf, 2007). in selecting the experts used for this study, a panel drawn from members of the nigerian institute of quantity surveyors (niqs) was constituted. specifically, the chairmen of state chapters and the head of academic institution offering quantity surveying were targeted in the sampling frame. fifty percent of the functioning 27 state chapter chairs were randomly selected. of the twenty-nine public institutions offering quantity surveying in nigeria; seventy-five percent of the heads of department were also randomly selected. two members of the national executive council of the niqs – chairman of the education committee and that of professional development committee were purposively included. this is as a result of their peculiar portfolio about the training of quantity surveyors. in all, a total number of thirty-eight members panel of experts were included in the survey. the shortlisted members of the panel were written to inform them of their inclusion and the purpose of the study. this gives them the opportunity to accept or dissent their participation. the letter also intimates them of the procedure and guidelines that would be followed. structure questionnaire, highlighting various issues of investigation, was designed for the first round of the survey. this gives the participants the opportunity to affirm or comment on the revised and added comments from the anonymous members of the panel. the survey was conducted via registered courier post with adequate follow-up. twenty-nine members of the panel responded to the first round. responses for the first round were analysed, and the feedback was used as basis for the second round. twenty -seven out of the twenty-nine that responded to the first round gave valid response to the second round. theoretically, delphi process can be continuously iterated until consensus is determined to have been achieved (hsu and sandford, 2007). custer et al. (1999) also pointed out that three iterations are often sufficient to collect the needed information and to reach a consensus in most situations. however, in this research, two rounds of iteration were conducted to obtain valid results. in validating the proposed framework, an interview was conducted on small group of quantity surveyors purposively selected based on their long years of experience in the industry. the selection included five quantity surveyors in private practice and two quantity surveyors in academic. an effort was made to ensure that they were not captured in the earlier survey. specifically, they were interviewed to comment on the appropriateness of the results produced by the consensus opinion and to give their candid view on the process. the interviewees attested to the credibility of the process and the usefulness as well as the relevancy of the proposed framework. 4. results, findings and discussions this section presents and discusses the conceptual career path framework developed from the results of the study. the framework design for a typical quantity surveying firm was adapted from what obtains in the public sector (table 1). the section involves the process of recruitment (including conduct of interview and aptitude tests); 42 j. o. dada / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 15-23 post/cadre to be adopted for private practice; as well as qualification and experience required for the respective posts/cadres. 4.1 recruitment of quantity surveyors this section discusses the findings on issues relating to the recruitment of quantity surveyors into the profession. the findings were from the outcome of the final results of the delphi survey (tables 2 and 3). table 2: summary of responses to issues relating to recruitment of quantity surveyors test yes/ (%) no/ (%) general knowledge 27 (100) 0 (0) professional knowledge (specific competencies) 27 (100) 0 (0) personal interview (work experience) 27 (100) 0 (0) table 3: summary of responses to the revised/added comments/suggestions on issues relating to recruitment of quantity surveyors comment/suggestion agree (%) disagree (%) spoken/written english 26 (96.23) 1 (3.77) ict 26 (96.23) 1 (3.77) industry sector-specific knowledge 19 (70.37) 8 (29.63) current affairs 12 (44.44) 15 (55.56) human relation 25 (92.59) 2 (7.41) the results indicate that new entrants into any cadre of the profession should involve the conduct of series of writing/aptitude tests and should be made to cover: general knowledge, professional knowledge (which addresses specific competencies) and personal interview (which addresses work experience). interview serve as guide and selection process which enables the evaluation of the core competencies expected of quantity surveyor; professional test questions should, therefore, be structured toward them as much as possible. other areas found to be highly essential and to be addressed are: spoken/written english language, information and communication technology experience, industrial specific knowledge and the issue of human relations. the issue of spoken /written english language is essential as the official language of communication is the english language. other identified areas are the specific knowledge which has to do with the basic technical skill and competency requirements which have been documented by various studies. also; as quantity surveyors will be relating to different stakeholders in the industry and other groups of people and organizations; the issue of human relation is considered very vital in professional practice. 4.2. quantity surveyor career pathway framework for private practice from the outcome of the final results of the delphi survey, the criteria for developing the proposed quantity surveyor career pathway framework is summarized and presented in tables 4 and 5 table 4: summary of responses to the proposed quantity surveyor career pathway framework qualification post/cadre yes/ (%) no/ (%) nd junior quantity surveyor 13 (48.15) 14 (51.85) hnd assistant quantity surveyor 24 (88.89) 3 (11.11) b.sc. assistant quantity surveyor 24 (88.89) 3 (11.11) hnd/b.sc. plus niqs professional qualification quantity surveyor 26 (96.31) 1 (3.77) m.sc. plus five years cognate experience but without niqs professional qualification quantity surveyor 9 (33.33) 18 (66.67) hnd/b.sc. plus five years cognate experience and with niqs professional qualification senior quantity surveyor 25 (92.59) 2 (7.41) m.sc./ph.d. plus niqs professional qualification senior quantity surveyor 26 (96.23) 1 (3.77) hnd/b.sc./m.sc. /ph.d. plus niqs professional qualification and over 15 years cognate experience chief quantity surveyor 26 (96.23) 1 (3.77) table 5: summary of responses to the revised/added comments/suggestions to the proposed quantity surveyor career pathway framework comment/suggestion agree (%) disagree (%) (nd) trainee qs 17 (62.96) 10 (37.04) (nd) qs assistant 6 (22.22) 21 (77.78) (nd) estimator 2 (7.41) 25 (92.59) (nd) qs technician 2 (7.41) 25 (92.59) (hnd) higher technical officer 7 (25.93) 20 (74.07) (hnd) qs trainee 2 (7.41) 25 (92.59) (b.sc.) pupil qs 7 (25.93) 20 (74.07) (b.sc.) qs ii 11 (40.74) 16 (59.26) (hnd/b.sc. +mniqs) qs i 10 (37.04) 17 (62.96) (hnd/b.sc. +mniqs) senior qs 4 (14.81) 23 (85.19) (hnd/b.sc. +mniqs+2yrs *exp.) senior qs 22 (81.48) 5 (18.52) (hnd/b.sc. +mniqs+10yrs exp.) principal qs 23 (85.19) 4 (14.81) (hnd/b.sc. +mniqs+15yrs exp.) partner 22 (81.48) 5 (18.52) (hnd/b.sc.+mniqs+20yrs exp.) consultant qs 12 (44.44) 25 (55.56) j. o. dada / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 43 (hnd/b.sc.+mniqs+25yrs exp.) principal consultant 19 (70.37) 8 (29.63) candidate to pass niqs and reg. with qsrbn before called qs 20 (74.07) 7 (25.93) *exp experience table 6 presents the developed conceptual framework which detailed the agreed posts/cadres to be adopted in private practice as well as the qualifications and experience to match them. this ranges from the trainee quantity surveyor, assistant quantity surveyor, through principal partner/consultant. a holder of the lowest degree (nd) is to be regarded as trainee, while holder of hnd/b.sc. is to be regarded as assistant quantity surveyors. any candidate with hnd/b.sc. moreover, who has passed the professional examination and registered with the qsrbn should be regarded as quantity surveyor. from this premise, it is to be noted that before anybody is called quantity surveyor, he/she must have passed the professional examinations and duly registered with the qsrbn. subsequent cadres have to do with post qualification and years of experience. adopting this policy in private practice is seen as good development which will engender uniformity among quantity surveying practitioners. table 6: framework for quantity surveyors’ career path in private practice post/cadre qualifications and experiences trainee quantity surveyor nd assistant quantity surveyor hnd/b.sc. quantity surveyor hnd/b.sc. + niqs professional qualification senior quantity surveyor hnd/b.sc. + niqs professional qualification + 5 years cognate experience principal quantity surveyor hnd/b.sc. + niqs professional qualification + 10 years cognate experience chief quantity surveyor hnd/b.sc. + niqs professional qualification + 15 years cognate experience partner hnd/b.sc. + niqs professional qualification + 15 years cognate experience principal partner/consultant hnd/b.sc. + niqs professional qualification + 25 years cognate experience post/cadre qualifications and experiences trainee quantity surveyor cadre for the post of trainee quantity surveyor, the prospective applicant must have at least ond in quantity surveying from an accredited institution. creation of this cadre in the professional development cycle helps the career development of quantity surveying graduates up to managerial levels. assistance quantity surveyor cadre for the post of assistance quantity surveyor, the prospective applicant must have at least first degree (hnd or b.sc. quantity surveying) from an accredited institution. fresh graduates will mostly fall into this category. this is because of the limited professional training or experience (as indicated in the framework). this cadre affords an individual while working in a quantity surveying firm, to commence the professional certification process. it also affords the firm to create a platform for sponsoring their employee in this regard. quantity surveyor cadre to be qualified for this post of quantity surveyor, the prospective applicant must have at least hnd or b.sc. in quantity surveying from an accredited institution and must have passed the test of professional competence (tpc)/graduateship examination and the professional competence interview (pci) conducted by the institute. also, candidates must have a minimum of two years experience after graduation (inclusive of the “national youth service corps nysc year), completed and passed assessment of logbook and diary of experience for two years and registered with the qsrbn. any candidate with these qualifications are automatically regarded and recognized as qualified quantity surveyor. senior quantity surveyor, principal quantity surveyor, chief quantity surveyor, and principal partner/consultant cadres these cadres have to do with post qualification couple with the number of years of experience. the experience garnered over time goes a long way to affecting the proficiency level of an employee. the experience often comes in the form of continuing professional development. a proactive framework, to ensuring that the experience garner over time is adequately rewarded by way of moving up the ladder with corresponding benefits, is therefore considered highly imperative. this will not only encourage an employee to put in more effort, but it will also help in the stability of the organization. 5. conclusions and recommendations in response to bridging the gap and resolving the dichotomy that exists in quantity surveyors’ recruitment, placement and promotion in private practice in comparison with that of public service in nigeria working environment; this study was aimed at providing a framework that could serve as a regulated scheme of service and career pathway metrics for quantity surveyor employees in private practice. from the consensus obtained from a panel of expert, a conceptual framework for career path and development of quantity surveyors employees in private practice is proposed. the framework which detailed the agreed posts/cadres to be adopted in private practice as well as the qualifications and experience to match them, ranges from the trainee quantity surveyor, assistant quantity surveyor, through principal partner/consultant. the implications of the study 44 j. o. dada / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 15-23 have a direct effect on the employers of quantity surveyors in private practice, the potential (quantity surveyor) employees and quantity surveying service delivery in general. for employers, who are looking for people to hire, the framework can help in drafting better job descriptions internally as well as help the human resource team shortlist candidates and conduct the initial interviews. this has profound implications when trying to evaluate potential employees for respective positions and more importantly when evaluating job changes or responsibility assignments within the organization. this also has relevance for potential employees who are preparing for careers in quantity surveying to help them develop more effective career path development plans. defined career path framework can improve performances. employees become familiar with their career progression, and eventually, the entire organization begins to speak consistently when talking about its employees’ professional development goals. this is seen to take account of and encourage the career management of prospective employee which is vital to high-quality service delivery. by this means, organizational effectiveness coupled with employee satisfaction can be enhanced and thereby give a win-win situation. while this study focused majorly on placement and promotion for quantity surveyors; future study is recommended on establishing a uniform, equitable remuneration for the respective cadres in the proposed framework and job description for each cadre. this will further concretize the framework and make it more applicable to a scheme of service in the private practice as obtainable in the public service. furthermore, the study can be extended, in context, to other construction professionals in nigeria. references anunike, e. b. 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[accessed 21 may 2016]. jcbm (2019) 3(1). 45-61 frameworks for material waste minimization on nigerian building projects o. j. oladiran1, o. e. ogunsanmi2 and m. o. dada3 1.2 department of building, university of lagos, nigeria. received 16 may 2018; received in revised form 27 july 2018; 18 january 2019; accepted 20 january 2019. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.593 abstract a novel approach to solving waste incidence of materials on building projects is to framework the issues and processes that are involved in its minimization. the objective of the study is to develop and validate frameworks for material waste minimization in building projects. this study is a survey research in south west nigeria. define, review, identify, verify and execute (drive) and construction process improvement methodology (cpim) techniques were used to develop the proposed frameworks; while the validation was done by face validity and scoring model approaches. a pilot validation was done by five academics while the main validation involved 17 potential end users. data were analysed with frequency and percentage. the study reveals that the frameworks are clear, informative, appropriate and applicable. it is concluded that the frameworks can minimize material waste at every stage of building projects. it is therefore recommended that the proposed fmwm should be adopted by all stakeholders to prevent and minimize material waste at all stages of building projects. keywords: cpim, drive, frameworks, minimization, prevention, waste. 1. introduction a framework is a schematic and interrelated processes, procedures or illustrations to achieve a goal. material waste minimization requires a systematic arrangement of issues, such as sources and causes of waste, and minimization strategies to foster its attainment in building projects. lu and yuan (2011) indicate that although considerable researches have been carried out on waste management, little effort have been made in embracing all issues of waste management in form of framework. the study therefore developed an intuitive framework, not to minimize material wastage, but to understand the state of the art of the waste management studies in several journals. dajadian and koch (2014) also opine that construction waste potents financial and environmental problems for construction industry, which has drawn serious attention from all stakeholders globally. this has made a lot of countries to promulgate regulations geared toward minimization of waste, such as united nations framework convention on climate change (unfccc), ontario 3r regulations (recycling council of ontario (rco), 2009), national solid waste management policy (nswp) in malaysia and so on. in the case of nigeria, there are frameworks for several aspects of construction 1 corresponding author. email address: ooladiran@unilag.edu.ng management, such as the framework for managing risk in privately financed markets projects (awodele, 2012); but there is no framework or regulations for the minimization of material wastages in building projects. this study therefore endeavours to fill this gap, by developing and validating frameworks for the minimization of material waste on building projects in nigeria. building project stages in this study include client (i.e. clients’ direct involvement stage), design, purchase/supply, handling and operation. thus, the specific objective of the study is to develop and validate frameworks to minimize material waste at these five identified stages in the building projects of medium and large contractors. the problem that the study seeks to solve to minimize material wastages on construction projects through the instrumentality of frameworks. the frameworks are all encompassing and thus will be veritable tools for designers, contractors and project managers to procure projects at minimal waste generation. they will also be useful to public clients, project managers and waste managers. 2. literature review 2.1 types and causes of material waste university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.3.1.2019.593 mailto:ooladiran@unilag.edu.ng 46 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 skoyles and skoyles (1987) identify two types of construction waste, namely: structure and finishing waste. material waste generated during the builder’s work stage are termed structure waste such as concrete pieces, reinforcement and timber off-cuts, broken blocks and bricks, filtered nails and so on. finishing wastes are those generated at the finishing stage, these include among others broken tiles and glass, smeared paints, excessive cement mortar, aluminium profiles, off-cuts of ceiling and wall finishes, packaging of public and household facilities such as gas cookers, bathtubs, washtubs, window frames and so on. skoyles and skoyles (1987) further group building material waste into direct and indirect waste. direct waste is the loss of those materials which are damaged and cannot be repaired and subsequently used, or which are lost during the building process. indirect waste is distinguished from direct waste because it normally represents only a monetary loss and the materials are not lost physically. construction material waste can also be classified into unavoidable waste (or natural waste), in which the investment necessary for its reduction is higher than the economic benefit produced; and avoidable waste, when the cost of waste is significantly higher than the cost of preventing it. avoidable waste is related to the level of technological development and hence the rate varies from companies to companies (formoso, isatto & hirota, 1999). akinkurolere and franklin (2005) revealed the sources of materials waste in south west nigeria as storage system, transport and delivery to site, intrasite/transit, wrong specification, fixing, negligence, pilfering and theft, conversion, demolition, mismanagement of materials, wrong use, residual waste, over estimation and unskillful labourers. in the same vein, wahab and lawal (2011) identified over consumption of resources as the most occurred cause of material waste on other projects in south west nigeria. this is followed in descending order by composite and the design of building, weather and inappropriate storage, mishandling or careless delivery, vandalism, rework/improve, lack of recording of materials supplied and used on site, and site office waste. other causes identified in wahab and lawal (2011) include usage of wet-trade process instead of prefabricated elements and non-calculation of waste index. in another region of nigeria, adewuyi and otali (2013) revealed 74 causes of waste generation in south south nigeria, out of which rework contrary to drawings and specifications is topmost and the least are inappropriate equipment and difficulties in obtaining work permits. other causes in the study comprise design changes and revisions, waste from uneconomical shapes, severe weather conditions, purchase of materials contrary to specifications, using untrained labours, lack of on-site control, use of incorrect materials, overproduction, over ordering or under ordering, substitution of a material by a more expensive one, rework, poor workmanship, errors in contract documents, purchase of material contrary to specification, inadequate supervision and so on. the contractors and consultants considered all the 74 causes important in contributing to waste generation, but their degree of importance or contribution to waste generation varies. 2.2 materials waste minimization li, zhang, ding and feng (2015) posit that estimation of materials waste is sequel to its successful minimization for sustainable environment. in this regard, dajadian and koch (2014) highlight certain waste models to be used for waste estimation, which include average cost estimation model (ratio of total cost of waste with the total production for a period), equivalent method of cost estimation and activity-based costing model. dajadian and koch (2014) also posit that waste can be minimized by investment in waste management, on-site waste management or treatment locations, waste contractors, designing out waste, using the 3r’s, prefabrication and industrialized building systems (ibs). investment in waste management is through assigning workers responsible for on-site waste collection, sorting and handling, purchasing equipment and machines for waste management, developing and implementing waste management plans, motivating practitioners to minimize waste and improving operatives’ skills of waste handling through vocational training. on-site waste management location is required for collection and sorting to minimize waste on sites. waste contractors are responsible for removal of waste from sites, after the waste have been collected in labeled bins according to the waste stream. dajadian and koch (2014) recommended having subcontractor solely meant for managing waste on a project. the waste contractor will estimate waste quantity and component in addition to periodic meeting to discuss waste. designing out waste is designers’ attempt to avoid, eliminate and reduce waste at sources. this is achievable via steel formworks; use of prefabrication and off-site prefabrication; standard component; realistic component size, capacity and specification; minimizing temporary works; optimizing design lives; specification of recycled materials in design; designing for recycling and ease of disassembly; identification of materials/products which create waste; and communication. this strategy offers the greatest opportunities for waste minimization. poon, yu, wong and cheung (2004) note that design is the initial stage of the project that material control can be exerted to reduce large number of off-cuts during construction (proverbs and olomolaiye 1995; otunola, 2004). poon et al. (2004) observe that clients’ requirements, cost effectiveness and aesthetics are factors that hinder designers from designing out waste on projects. according to ekanayake and ofori, (2000, 2004), and enshassi (1996), improper designs are responsible for much of material waste on site. akande (2000) notes that achieving minimum waste was never a priority in design in nigeria. in the realization of this, ekanayake and ofori developed a building waste assessment score (bwas) model for designers to design buildings of minimum waste generation on site. it serves as a basis to evaluate design on waste. however, the model is incomplete because it does not incorporate foundation, and mechanical and electrical (m and e) engineering works. furthermore, fuchs (2003) corroborated by cribe (2003) offers several ideas to design-out waste in construction. the 3rs connote reduce, reuse and recycle. tam and tam (1994) posit that reuse, recycle and reduce are the only methods to recover waste generated, but they require coordination among o. j. oladiran et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 47 designers and constructors. ng, seow and goh (2015) opine that weaknesses in the implementation on solid waste reduction through 3r among contractors in the construction industry will cause unsustainable construction waste management. thus, construction waste should be managed through the 3r as it is sustainable. ng et. al. (2015) indicate that the 3r practice is prevalent among contractors in penang, but the percentage of construction waste that is managed through 3r practice is still very low. this is because contractors only reuse and recycle common materials like steel and wood, which make up very little of the overall amount of construction waste. the study recommends concerted efforts of all parties involved, in form of top-down approach, to overcome the challenges and practice 3r to reduce construction waste disposal in landfills. top-down approach is a style of autocratic and hierarchical decisionmaking, where organizational and leadership changes in the strategy or plan are established from the top and passed down to the lower level for implementation. government is to also enforce implementation of laws and policies to mandate contractors to implement 3r, via monitoring, guidelines, standards, incentives and penalties. relevant bodies can also organize talks, courses, awareness campaigns, and education and training programs among contractors, in addition to the use of technology, to disseminate information and knowledge about 3r and to motivate the contractors to practice 3r. reduce is the most effective and efficient because the cost of waste transportation and disposal are also reduced. reusing materials reduces landfill disposal and saves cost. rco (2009) opines that some of the wastes generated on sites have secondary market value, indicating that it is less costly to reuse them than disposal. recycling protects the environment, thus, the ontario 3rs regulations stipulates that new construction should have a definite program and efforts for reusing and recycling waste (rco, 2009). edwards (1999) states that the benefits of recycling include reducing the demand upon new resources; cutting down on transport and production energy costs; and using waste which would otherwise be lost to landfill sites. manowong and brockmann (nd) estimate that energy saving from recycling all construction waste could be 3, 553 kwh per year in thailand. although, some construction waste such as wood, plastic, paper and metal are used for recycling but a larger part such as concrete, cement, and bricks are sent to landfills because of lower cost and greater convenience. tam and tam (2006) reveal that recycling can increase contractors’ competitiveness through lower production costs and a better public image. the study therefore proposes measures to improve recycling, comprising higher landfill charges, centralized recycling centre, governmental provision land for recycling plants, innovative demolition methods, locations to drop-off recyclable materials, flexible demolition periods, mobile recycling plants, reusable components, higher flexibility in receiving concrete waste in recycling plant, and balancing the supply and demand of recycled materials through legislations or incentive schemes. additional strategies to minimize material wastages that are apparent in previous works include waste management plan (oladiran, 2008a; poon et. al., 2004); waste handling methods (motete, mbachu & nkado, 2003; seydel, wilson & skitmore, 2002); good material ordering and storage (ekanayake & ofori, 2000); sub contractor’s responsibility (proverbs & olomolaiye, 1995) among others. this present study employs the sources and causes of materials waste indicated in this review, with all these strategies to develop and validate frameworks to minimize material waste in construction projects. 3. research method 3.1. questionnaire survey an initial questionnaire survey was conducted in the study area, which was the entire south west nigeria. the population of the study is spread across the south west, which consists of six stateslagos, ogun, oyo, osun, ondo and ekiti. the population for this study is the site managers of building projects under execution by medium and large contracting organizations in south west nigeria. the projects used for the study were identified in the research area based on the specified requirements, since there is no list of such projects. a total of 167 building projects under execution by medium and large contracting organizations were identified and selected as sample in the research area through purposive sampling technique. a questionnaire was designed to elicit information from the site managers comprising three sections, namely, respondents’ and organizations’ general information (see table 1); examination of the occurrence, impact and severity of 55 causes of material waste (severity was calculated as the product of occurrence and impact of each causes); and evaluation of the usage and effect of 40 minimization strategies. the questionnaire data were analyzed using mean, frequency, rank, and the result is presented in table 2. 1: project’ organizations’ and site managers’ profile project organizations. type percentage indigenous 74 multinational 26 age 0 – 5 years 8 6 – 10 years 21 11 – 15 years 31 16 – 20 years 13 above 20 years 27 staff strength 8 – 114 90 above 114 10 structure project 28 matrix 23 functional 28 mixed 21 site managers profession architecture 13 building 32 civil engineering 37 quantity surveying 18 academic qualification ond 2 hnd 24 48 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 b.sc 37 m.sc 35 pgd 1 phd 1 experience 0 – 5 years 18 6 – 10 years 49 11 – 15 years 16 16 – 20 years 13 above 20 years 4 professional body niob 33 niqs 14 nia 16 nse 28 nate 8 acen 1 grade of membership none 6 associates 25 graduates 49 corporate 16 fellow 4 key: ond : ordinary national diploma, hnd: higher national diploma, pgd: post graduate diploma, niob: nigerian institute of building, niqs: nigerian institute of quantity surveying, nia: nigerian institute of architects, nse: nigerian society of engineers, nate: nigerian association of technologists in engineering and acen: association of consulting engineers in nigeria 3.2. development of the proposed frameworks for material waste minimization (fmwm). problem solving methodologies are used to investigate issues by probing into existing structures and identifying areas of rectification and improvement (straker, 1995). define, review, identify, verify and execute (drive) and construction process improvement methodology (cpim) techniques are two of such methodologies that were used in this study to develop the proposed framework for material waste minimization (fmwm) of medium and large building projects. cpim centers on improvement of construction process and waste reduction. the two techniques were used to set up and propose the fmwm logically and sequentially, in line with construction stages’ category, based on the finding of the questionnaire survey presented in table 2. the content of the frameworks, that is, causes, sources and minimization strategies of material waste were coined from literature and table 2. the layout was constructed in line with the sequence of project stages reflected in table 2. the research also explored a potential implementation strategy of the proposed frameworks. table 2: severity of the causes of material waste. sn causes of materials waste mean of frequency mean of impact severity(s) r or client source. 2.93 3.48 10.21 1 1 undue pressure to deliver 2.99 3.47 10.38 1 4 2 expectations of too high standard 2.99 3.45 10.32 2 5 3 delay decisions /changes 2.91 3.51 10.21 3 7 4 undue interference with project’s execution 2.84 3.49 9.91 4 9 design source 2.75 3.38 9.27 2 1 design changes and revisions 3.34 3.9 13.03 1 1 2 lack of collaboration 3.24 3.51 11.37 2 2 3 materials and component complexity 3.05 3.47 10.58 3 4 lack of or error in information on types and sizes of materials 2.83 3.61 10.22 4 6 5 over designing 2.74 3.51 9.62 5 11 6 specifying materials’ without considering standard sizes. 2.80 3.33 9.32 6 14 7 lack of contractors’ influence 2.71 3.41 9.24 7 15 8 design coordination 2.76 3.34 9.22 8 16 9 ineffective communication 2.75 3.26 8.97 9 18 10 delay in approval of drawings 2.58 3.20 8.26 10 25 11 unfamiliarity with alternative products 2.61 3.13 8.17 11 27 12 incorrect /inconclusive standard specification 2.48 3.29 8.16 12 28 13 uncompleted design 2.50 3.23 8.08 13 29 14 poor site documentation 2.43 3.26 7.92 14 32 15 designers’ inexperience 2.37 3.20 7.58 15 41 handling source. 2.52 3.38 8.51 3 1 unpacked supply i.e. loosed materials 2.81 3.61 10.14 1 8 2 throwaway packaging 2.80 3.53 9.88 2 10 3 poor site storage 2.50 3.49 8.73 3 21 4 double handling 2.46 3.41 8.39 4 22 5 too much material inventories 2.48 3.30 8.18 5 26 o. j. oladiran et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 49 6 imperfect planning of construction 2.41 3.28 7.90 6 33 7 wrong equipment for materials’ movement. 2.34 3.30 7.72 7 40 8 unfriendly attitudes from personnel 2.35 3.11 7.31 8 47 purchase/supply source. 2.48 3.28 8.14 4 1 delay in materials supply 2.65 3.38 8.96 1 10 2 damage during transportation 2.60 3.44 8.94 2 20 3 ordering that do not fulfill design 2.42 3.42 8.28 3 24 4 lack of possibilities to order small quantities. 2.55 3.12 7.96 4 31 5 delay in transportation and installation of equipment 2.46 3.19 7.85 5 36 6 lack of coordination 2.39 3.26 7.79 6 38 7 wrong ordering by estimators. 2.32 3.14 7.28 7 48 operation source. 2.43 3.14 7.62 5 1 inclement weather 2.85 3.37 9.60 1 12 2 workers mistake 2.65 3.40 9.01 2 17 3 poor workmanship 2.53 3.28 8.30 3 23 4 equipment malfunction shortage. 2.47 3.27 8.08 4 29 5 inappropriate /misuse of materials 2.47 3.2 7.90 5 33 6 damage caused by subsequent trades. 2.48 3.18 7.89 6 35 7 too much over time for labour 2.55 3.06 7.80 7 37 8 late information 2.48 3.14 7.79 8 38 9 poor formwork 2.42 3.14 7.60 9 12 10 improper planning and organization. 2.45 3.09 7.57 10 42 11 improper sites record 2.38 3.18 7.57 10 42 12 inexperienced inspectors 2.41 3.13 7.54 12 44 13 poor material management practices 2.36 3.17 7.48 13 45 14 lack of subcontractor’s skills 2.40 3.07 7.37 14 46 15 lack of supervision and skillful tradesmen 2.31 3.14 7.25 15 9 16 misinterpretation of drawings 2.29 3.16 7.24 16 50 17 accidents 2.36 3.06 7.22 17 51 18 wrong construction methodology 2.27 3.16 7.17 18 52 19 replacement occasioned by wrong materials 2.34 3.03 7.09 19 53 20 poor site layout and setting out 2.31 2.95 6.81 20 54 21 unnecessary people move 2.18 2.74 5.97 21 55 or= overall rank; r = group rank; s = severity, calculated as the product of frequency and impact, also indexed as: “not sever” from 0.00 – 3.99; “low severity” from 4.00 – 8.99; “medium severity” from 9.00 – 25.00; “high severity” from above 25.00. 3.3. validation and evaluation of proposed fmwm a combination of face validity approach and scoring model approach was adopted in this study to validate and evaluate the proposed fmwm. having chosen the approach, certain steps must be followed to ensure that the framework achieve its purpose (chew & sullivan, 2000). the first step is to identify the potential end users who will be involved in carrying out the validation and evaluation exercise. the following were the users identified: i. indigenous contractors. ii. multinational contractors. iii. public organizations. iv. consulting organizations. v. client organizations. the second step is how to go about the exercise. five academics modified the framework before proceeding to the real validation exercise by the identified users. 4. results and discussions 4.1. the proposed fmwm for projects of medium and large contractors the proposed fmwm pinpoints waste origins and waste routes with efforts to identify their respective waste minimization strategies. it is noteworthy that the proposed fmwm is applicable at every stage of building projects of medium and large organizations – preconstruction stage (i.e. client and design) and construction stage (purchase/supply, handling and operation). 4.2. structure of the proposed fmwm the layout of the proposed fmwm is presented in figure 1. the structure of the proposed frameworks entails two aspects: 1. fmwm levels: these comprise the main-level and subsidiary-level. the main level outlays an overview of waste origin from all stages of building project and their waste minimization process. the subsidiary-levels comprise five components that are linked to the main-level. 50 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 2. fmwm axis: horizontal and vertical axes representing waste origin from all stages of building project and waste minimization process respectively. the waste minimization process consists of three stages for both the main and subsidiary-levels (i.e. waste causes’ identification; waste analysis and evaluation; and strategies for minimization). the layout was constructed in line with the sequence of building project stages 4.3. main-level fmwm the main-level fmwm shows waste origin from all stages of building project and waste minimization process as shown in figure 2. the horizontal axis of the mainlevel fmwm comprises sources of waste from the five stages of building project, namely: client, design, purchase/supply, handling and operation. the vertical axis of the framework denotes the waste minimization process, which consists of three stages: identification of severe causes of waste; waste analysis and evaluation; and strategies for minimization. the main-level fmwm contents also link the sub-origins for each of the five sources of waste clusters and their respective strategies for minimization. the contents presented in the main-level are further elaborated within five subsidiary-level components. 4.4. subsidiary-level fmwm. each of the five low-level fmwm components presented in figures 3,4,5,6 and 7 represents one source of waste from the five stages of building projects, namely: figure 3: client waste origin; figure 4: design waste origin; figure 5: purchase/supply waste origin; figure 6: handling waste origin; figure 7: operation waste origin. the subsidiary components adopt the same structure of the main-level in terms of horizontal axis and vertical axis. all the subsidiary components and their contents emanate from table 2. for instance, one of the client waste origin is “undue pressure to deliver” as shown in figure 3. table 2 reveals that undue pressure to deliver from clients is one of the most severe causes of waste on building projects (i.e. origin of waste). this occurs (i.e. the route) as a result of “prioritized targets” and “time constraints” according to experts’ opinion. therefore, the proposed strategies for minimization of “undue pressure” are “setting of good and reasonable targets” and “adequate project duration”. this approach was employed to determine potential minimization strategies for each of the sub-waste origins listed in the “routes to waste origins” of all the subsidiary fmwm components. it is very important to note that, the proposed fmwm suggests that, in addition to several lean construction techniques that have been included and explained in it already, more relevant lean construction techniques should be investigated and embedded as the need arise in all the five subsidiary components to minimize material waste. it is also noteworthy that the proposed fmwm suggests “waste analysis and evaluation” for purchase/supply, handling, operation waste origins, and also “design analysis and assessment for waste” for designs before the application of all the proposed minimization strategies. this is in accordance with the opinion that waste quantity and waste stream should be known before attempting to minimize it (al-moghany, 2007). 4.4.1. client fmwm the origin of material waste from client include undue pressure to deliver, expectation of too high standard, delay decision or changes and undue interference with projects’ execution. this is presented in figure 3. undue pressure: it occurs due to prioritized targets and time constraints. therefore, good targets and adequate project duration were proposed as strategies to minimize them. expectation of too high standards: it occurs due to ignorance and unreasonable requirement of clients. enlightenment of clients and setting of achievable objectives by the clients were proposed as strategies to minimize its occurrence. delays: it occurs due to financial constraints; while realistic budget and cash flow was proposed as the strategy for minimizing its occurrence. undue interference: it occurs due to late changes; while avoidance of late changes and project definition were proposed as the minimization strategies 4.4.2. design fmwm the origins of material waste from design include design changes, lack of collaboration, delay in approval of drawings, lack of standardization and others. this is presented in figure 4. design changes: it occurs due to overdesign, lack of contractors’ influence at design stages, non-coordination of designs, incorrect specification, designers’ inexperience and site conditions. as a result, the framework proposes flexible design, collaborative design, experienced designers and site visits as strategies for minimization. lack of collaboration: it stems from ineffective communication, procurement method and nature of construction industry. the strategies proposed to minimize its occurrence are appropriate construction procurement, collaborative design, effective communication and reengineering. delay of approval of drawings: it is caused by incomplete designs, and poor site information and documentation. the strategies to handle them are timely designs and good documentation. lack of standardization: it occurs due to specifying materials without considering standard sizes, materials’ and components’ complexity, incorrect information about materials, unfamiliarity with alternative products and lack of code requirements for standard sizes. the corresponding proposed minimization strategies are designers’ familiarity with and specification of standard sizes; inclusion of standard sizes in codes’ requirement; compliance to codes’ requirements; compatible design; and set-based design. others: design waste also originates from not incorporating recycling and reusage; and unnecessary temporary works. the proposed minimization strategies are concurrent design, designing for future, specifying recyclable and reusable materials and components; and elimination of unnecessary temporary works. . o. j. oladiran et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 51 figure 1: the link between main-level and subsidiary level of materials waste minimization framework for medium and large contracting organizations projects. advise the clients on the implication of and the need to eliminate: 1. too high standards 2. undue pressure 3. delay decisions / changes 4. undue interference strategies for minimization cause of waste waste analysis & evaluation 1. flexible design 2. collaborative design 3. design for standardization 4. concurrent design 5. explore other relevant techniques of lean construction 1. good packaging & transportation 2. just in time delivery 3. suppliers’ involvement 4. embed other relevant techniques of lean construction operation 1. poor or nonmechanization 2. on-site wet trades/ construction 4. planning 5. others 1. central dumping point 2. good planning 3. good layout and monitoring to prevent double handling 4. suppliers managed inventories 5. investigate other appropriate techniques of lean construction handling 1. loose materials 2. improper planning 3. double handling 4. storage supply/ purchases 1. damages 2. delays 3. uncoordinated purchase client 1. too high standards 2. undue pressure 3. delay decisions / changes 4. undue interference design 1. design changes 2. lack of collaboration 3. nonconsideration for standard sizes 4. complexities sources of waste m a te r ia l w a st e m in im iz a ti o n p r o c e ss 1. waste scores 2. buildability & maintainability analysis score 1. mechanization 2. experienced and relevant professionals 3. multi-skilled operatives 4. new technology 5. last planner 6. security 7. incorporate other relevant techniques of lean construction operation waste origin (see figure 7) handling waste origin (see figure 6) purchase/ supply waste origin (see figure 5) design waste origin (see figure 4) client waste origin (see figure 3) m a in l e v e l s u b si d ia ry l e v e l 52 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 figure 2: framework for material waste minimization for medium and large contractors (main-level). figure 3: client waste minimization subsidiary-level framework for medium and large contracting organizations projects. client material waste minimization strategies (figure 3). stage 3 application of strategies to minimize material waste stage 1 identification of waste causes and categorization to sources total material waste stage 2 waste analysis and quantification design material waste minimization strategies (figure 4). purchase/ supply material waste minimization strategies (figure 5). handling material waste minimization strategies (figure 6). operation identified operation waste causes (figure 7). handling identified handling waste causes (figure 6). purchase supply identified purchase supply waste causes (figure 5). client identified client waste causes (figure 3). design identified design waste causes (figure 4). sources of material waste m a te r ia l w a st e m in im iz a ti o n p r o c e ss waste scores operation material waste minimization strategies (figure 7). 1. enlightenment. 2. achievable objectives stage 2 application of client material waste minimization strategies stage 1 classification of client waste causes to routes and origins 1. good and reasonable targets. 2. adequate project duration 1. realistic budget and cash flow. 2. timely decision 1. avoidance of late changes 2. project definition. undue interferences 1. late changes. delays 1. financial constraints too high standard 1. ignorance 2. unreasonable requirements undue pressure 1. prioritized targets. 2. time constraints client waste origins m a te r ia l w a st e m in im iz a ti o n p r o c e ss o. j. oladiran et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 53 figure 4: design waste minimization subsidiary-level framework for medium and large contracting organizations projects. 1. flexible design 2. collaborative design. 3. concurrent design 4. site visits 5. experienced designers 6 lean construction techniques stage 3 application of design material waste minimization strategies stage 1 classification of design waste causes to routes and origins 1. waste score 2. buildability & maintainability analysis score stage 2 waste analysis 1. appropriate construction procurement system. 2. collaborative design 3. effective communication 4. re engineering 1.timely designs 2.good documentation 1. designers’ familiarity with specification of standard sizes. 2. inclusion of standard sizes in code’s requirements. 3. compliance to code’s requirements 4. compatible design 5. set-based design 6. incorporate lean construction techniques others 1. design not incorporating recycling and restage. 2. unnecessary temporary works. lack of standardization 1. specifying materials without considering standard sizes. 2. materials’ and components’ complexity. 3. incorrect information about materials 4. unfamiliarity with alternative products. 5. lack of code requirements for standard sizes. delay in approval of drawings 1. incomplete designs. 2. poor site information and documentation. design changes 1. overdesign 2. lack of contractors’ influence at design stages. 3. non-coordination of designs. 4. incorrect specification. 5. designers’ inexperience. 6. site condition. lack of collaboration 1. ineffective communication 2. procurement methods 3. nature of industry design waste origins m a te r ia l w a st e m in im iz a ti o n p r o c e ss 1. concurrent design 2. designing for future 3. specifying recyclable and reusable materials and components. 4. elimination of unnecessary temporary works 6. investigate other relevant techniques of lean construction 54 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 figure 5: purchase/supply waste minimization subsidiary-level framework for medium and large contracting organizations projects 1. good transportation and road network 2. elimination of packaging or good packaging 3. incorporate other lean construction techniques stage 3 application of purchase/supply material waste minimization strategies stage 1 classification of purchase/supply waste causes to routes and origins total waste quantity from purchase/supply source stage 2 waste analysis and quantification 1. timely ordering 2. logistic planning13 3. work structuring13 4. incorporate other lean construction techniques lean construction 1. appropriate ordering. 2. incorporate other relevant techniques of lean construction 1. requisite and experienced supply & purchase manager. 2. effective communication 3. partnering14 and suppliers’ involvement 4. adequate inspection at delivery with appropriate documentation 5. incorporate other relevant techniques of lean construction bad materials/ components 1. in experienced supply & purchase manager 2. poor communication between site and head office. 3. late involvement of suppliers 4. poor inspection ordering 1. ordering that do not fulfil design. 2. lack of possibilities to order small quantities. 3. wrong ordering by estimators. 4. lack of coordination of purchase/supply damages 1. bad transportation & road network. 2. bad packaging 3. mode of delivery delays 1. delay in material supplies. 2. delay in transportation and installation of equipment. 3. late ordering 4. poor logistics purchase/supply waste origins m a te r ia l w a st e m in im iz a ti o n p r o c e ss o. j. oladiran et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 55 figure 6: handling waste minimization subsidiary-level framework for medium and large contracting organizations projects 1. good delivery methods. 2. programmed ordering. 3. central dump 4. embed other relevant techniques of lean construction stage 3 application of handling material waste minimization strategies stage 1 classification of handling waste causes to routes and origins total waste quantity from handling source stage 2 waste analysis and quantification 1. mechanization 2. increasing crew. 3. training 4. multi-skilled operatives 5. good resource allocation 6. embed other relevant techniques of lean construction 1. discharge of materials at the point of usage. 2. good site layout 3. good distribution method within site 4. embed other relevant techniques of lean construction 1. appropriate storage 2. adequate protection for materials 3. just in time delivery5 4. supplier managed store 4. offsite construction 5. embed other relevant techniques of lean construction storage problem 1. too much material inventory 2. in appropriate storage 3. congestion double handling 1. wrong equipment for material movement. 2. wrong discharge point of materials. 3. site layout problem 4. wrong distribution within site unpacked supply waste 1. throwaway packaging. imperfect planning 1. unfriendly attitude from personnel. 2. insufficient operatives 3. poor resource allocation handling waste origins m a te r ia l w a st e m in im iz a ti o n p r o c e ss 56 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 figure 7: operation waste minimization subsidiary-level framework for medium and large contracting organizations projects 1. training 2.competent and skilful personnel. 3.adequate supervision 4. lean construction techniques stage 3 application of design material waste minimization strategies stage 1 classification of design waste causes to routes and origins total waste quantity from operation source stage 2 waste analysis 1. top management support. 2 total productive maintenance. 3. security. 4. good program of work. 5. good planning. 6. good equipment. 7. techniques of lean construction 1. total quality management 2.introduction of safety policies 3. lean construction techniques 1. multi-skilled operatives 2. last planner 3. offsite construction 4. first run studies 5. visual management 6. lean construction techniques wrong methods 1. too much overtime for labour. 2. poor formwork. 3. improper planning and organizations. 4. improper sites’ records. 5. poor material management practices. 6.unusage of modern methods 7. lack of waste management plan errors 1. workers’ mistakes. 2. poor workmanship. 3. inappropriate/ misuse of materials 4. misinterpretation of drawings. 5. replacement occasioned by wrong materials 6. conversion. 7. negligence damages 1. damage caused by subsequent trades. 2.accidents inexperience 1. inexperienced inspectors. 2. unskilful subcontractors. 3. unskilful tradesmen. 4. poor site layout and setting out. 5. poor supervision 6. low quality target 7. unqualified personnel delay 1. equipment malfunctions/ shortage. 2. inclement weather. 3. late information. 4. unnecessary people moves. 5. lack of top management support. 6. theft. operation waste origins m a te r ia l w a st e m in im iz a ti o n p r o c e ss 1. benchmarking 2. value based management 3. re engineering 4. modern methods 5. steel formwork 6. corrective actions 7. sub-contractors managing waste generated by them. 8 lean construction techniques o. j. oladiran et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 57 4.4.3. purchase/supply fmwm the origins of waste from purchase/supply are presented in figure 5, which include damages, delays, bad materials or products and ordering problems. damages: it occurs due to bad transportation and road network, bad packaging and mode of delivery. the proposed minimization strategies consist of good transportation and road network; and elimination of packaging or good packaging. delays: it occurs due to delay in material supplies, delay in transportation and installation of equipment, late ordering and poor logistics. the proposed minimization strategies are timely ordering, logistic planning and work structuring. bad materials or products: it stems from inexperienced supply and purchase manager; poor communication; late involvement of suppliers; and poor inspection. the proposed strategies for minimization are requisite and experienced supply/purchase manager, partnering and adequate inspection. ordering problems: they occur from ordering that do not fulfill design, lack of possibilities to order small quantities, wrong ordering by estimators and lack of coordination of purchase/supply. the proposed strategy is appropriate ordering. 4.4.4. handling fmwm figure 6 presents the handling waste origins, which include unpacked supplies waste, imperfect planning, double handling and storage problems. unpacked supplies: waste occurs through throwaway packaging. the proposed strategies for minimization in the framework are good delivery methods, programmed ordering and central dump. imperfect planning: it stems from unfriendly attitude from personnel, insufficient crew of workers and poor resource allocation. the proposed strategies are mechanization, increment of crews, training of operatives, multi-skilled operatives and good resource allocation. double handling: it occurs from wrong equipment, wrong discharge point of materials, site layouts’ problems and wrong distribution of materials within site. the proposed strategies are discharge of materials at the point of usage, good site layout and good distribution method within sites. storage problem: it occurs from too much material inventory, inappropriate storage and congestion. the proposed strategies are appropriate storage, adequate protection for materials, just in time delivery, suppliermanaged store and off-site construction. 4.4.5. operation fmwm the origins of operation waste presented in figure 7 are inexperience, delay, damages, errors and wrong methods. inexperience: it stems from inexperienced inspectors, unskillful subcontractors, unskillful tradesmen, poor site layout and setting out, poor supervision, low quality target and unqualified personnel. the proposed strategies for minimization include training, competent and skillful personnel, and adequate supervision. delay: it occurs from equipment malfunctions/ shortage; inclement weather; late information; unnecessary people moves; lack of top management support; and theft. the proposed strategies are top management support, security, good program of work, good planning and good equipment. damages: it occurs due to subsequent trades and accidents. the proposed strategies for minimization are total quality management and introduction of safety policies. errors: they result from workers’ mistakes, poor workmanship, inappropriate/ misuse of materials, misinterpretation of drawings, replacement occasioned by wrong materials, conversion and negligence. the proposed strategies for minimization are multi-skilled operatives, last planner, off site construction, first run studies and visual management. wrong methods: these are due to too much overtime for labour; poor formwork; improper planning and organizations; improper sites’ records; poor material management practices; non-usage of modern methods; and lack of waste management plan. the proposed minimization strategies are benchmarking, value-based management, re-engineering, modern methods, steel formwork, corrective actions and sub-contractors managing waste generated by them. 4.5. frameworks’ validation. 4.5.1. aim and objectives of the validation the aim of the validation is to refine and assess the content and appropriateness of the proposed fmwm for medium and large contracting organizations. the objectives of the validation are: 1. to assess the clarity of the proposed fmwm. 2. to examine the information flow of the proposed fmwm. 3. to ascertain the appropriateness of the content and structure of the five subsidiary-level fmwm. 4. to examine the comprehensiveness of the content of the proposed fmwm. 5. to identify other waste routes, waste origins and minimization strategies that may not be contained in the proposed fmwm. 6. to identify potential implementation strategies for the proposed fmwm. 7. to find out the overall assessment and applicability of the proposed fmwm. the validation was done in two stages, which are pilot validation and main validation. 4.5.2. pilot validation eleven academics in the university of lagos were contacted to modify the framework out of which five of them participated. it involved them rigorously criticizing the proposed fmwm and also evaluate them via an instrument. the five researchers include a professor, an associate professor, two senior lecturers and a lecturer ii of the university of lagos, nigeria. all of them hold phd degree and their academic/research experiences range between six to over 20 years. four of them either “agree” or “strongly agree” with the clarity of the mainlevel fmwm in terms of structure, content and process. similarly, three of them either “agree” or “strongly agree” with the information flow of the main-level fmwm in terms of clarity and relationships. one each “disagree” and “neither agree/ disagree”. additionally, four of them either “agree” or “strongly agree” with the appropriateness of the five subsidiarylevel fmwm in terms of clarity, familiarity and content. again, one of 58 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 them “disagree”. the opinion of the one person who disagreed was sought on improvement. his comment was that the arrow showing relationship should be improved to enhance understanding and interpretation of the frameworks. all the comments and suggestions of the academics were employed in the improvement of the proposed fmwm. one of them also commented that some of the minimization strategies (especially, lean construction techniques) should be explained in the proposed fmwm for the benefit of those who do not know them. all their suggestions were used to modify the proposed fmwm. consequently, the proposed fmwm were sent to 25 potential end users (five each from the five categories of end users indicated earlier) with an evaluation instrument, out of which 17 were returned and found useful. the suggested measures from the pilot survey, which were used to improve the proposed fmwm prior to the main validation, are presented in table 3. table 3: improvement measures suggested from the pilot study and modification actions taken on the framework. s/n proposed improvement measures modification actions taken 1. minimize the complexity arising from multiplicity of redundant elements/components. removal of redundant boxes. 2. additional indicative arrows to convey messages convincingly. introduction of arrows from waste quantification to strategies for waste minimization. 3. sequential arrangement of origins of waste under some sources of waste in the main-level framework. rearrangement of the design origins of waste in the mainlevel framework – design changes, uncollaboration, inconsideration for standard sizes were rearranged as inconsideration for standard sizes, uncollaboration, design changes. 4. rework some of the content. uncollaboration was changed to lack of collaboration, 5. inclusion of lean construction techniques additional lean construction techniques were included, with an instruction to investigate and embed relevant lean techniques in all the boxes for strategies for waste minimization. 6. explanation of some minimization strategies that may not be known to the respondents especially the lean construction techniques explanation of about 21 strategies is included as footnotes on the framework. 4.5.3. main validation. 4.5.3.1. demographic information of respondents table 4 shows the demographic information of the respondents that participated in the validation exercise. a total of 17 construction professionals were involved in the exercise out of the 25 that were contacted. 23% of them are project managers, 18% each are builders and architects while 35% and 6% are civil engineers and quantity surveyors respectively. also, 64% have m.sc degree, while 18% each has b.sc degree and hnd. 18% have less than 5 years construction experience, 29% have from 6 to 10 years and 53% have from 11 to 15 years. table 4: demographic information of respondents respondents’ information frequency percentage designation project managers 4 23 builders 3 18 architects 3 18 civil engineers 6 35 quantity surveyors 1 6 profession architecture 3 18 quantity surveying 2 12 building 4 24 civil engineering 8 47 academic qualification m.sc 11 64 b.sc 3 18 hnd 3 18 construction experience less than 5 years 3 53 6 – 10 years 5 29 11 – 15 years 9 53 category of organization indigenous 12 71 multinational 5 29 type of organization private 11 65 public 6 35 nature of organization contracting 11 64 consulting 3 18 client 3 18 moreover, 71% of the respondents are from indigenous construction organization while 29% are from multinational organization, 65% are from private organizations while 35% are from public. also, 64% are from contracting organizations, 18% each from consulting and client organizations. the result shows that the targeted respondents are qualified to validate the proposed frameworks. 4.5.3.2. clarity of the main-level fmwm the respondents were asked to rate their agreement level (from strongly disagree to strongly agree) about the statements on clarity provided in the questionnaire. the result reveals that 94% of them either “agree” or “strongly agree” with the clarity of the framework in terms of structure, content, sources and causes of waste within the material waste minimization process in the main-level. o. j. oladiran et al./ journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(2). 36-41 59 only 6% “nether agree/disagree” just on familiarity with the content alone. 4.5.3.3. information flow of the main-level fmwm the respondents were asked to rate their agreement level (from strongly disagree to strongly agree) about the statements on information flow of the main-level fmwm provided in the questionnaire. the result reveals that at least 75% of the respondents either “agree” or strongly agree” with the information flow of the framework, in terms of clarity and relationship between the sources and causes of waste, and material waste minimization process in the main component. 4.5.3.4. appropriateness of the subsidiary-level fmwm clusters. the respondents were also asked to indicate the appropriateness of the five subsidiary-level fmwm (from strongly disagree to strongly agree) on the statements provided in the questionnaire. the result sheds light that at least 75% of the respondents either “agree” or “strongly agree” with the five subsidiary components in terms of structures’ clarity, contents’ familiarity, contents’ appropriateness and clarity of material waste minimization process. 4.5.3.5. overall assessment and applicability of the fmwm the respondents were asked to rate some framework assessment and applicability statements (faas), from extremely poor (1) to excellent (5), to indicate the overall assessment and applicability of the entire framework. the result is shown in table 5. interestingly, the result shows that all the respondents (i.e. 100%) either indicated “above average” or “excellent” for the assessment and applicability of the framework. infact, 65% opined “excellent” on the comprehensiveness and practical relevance to material waste minimization, while over 75% also indicated “excellent” on the applicability in minimizing materials wastage. 4.6. implementation strategies of the fmwm the following implementation strategies were suggested by various respondents: 1. engagement of competent and requisite professionals for site works. 2. there is the need for usage of skillful workers. 3. proper monitoring and coordination of material procurement. 4. training and education on movement and storage of materials. 5. there is the need to allow suppliers to manage storage of materials. 6. adequate planning for handling and good materials packaging. 7. teamwork. 8. educating workers on correct placement of materials. 9. good material packaging and changing construction methods. 10. mechanization or increasing crew on sites. 11. total quality management. 12. achievable objectives must be clearly stated for achievable goals. 13. usage of waste audit. the nigerian building industry requires frameworks to forestall the incidence of material waste on building projects. previous works on the issue of waste in nigeria have not attempted to evolve a framework that can be used by construction practitioners to prevent and reduce material waste. additionally, wahab and lawal (2011) indicate that there are no policies that mandate contractors to minimize material waste on projects. the introduction of policies will not be efficient, if there are no frameworks that synergize the key issues about waste, especially as it relates to the nigerian context. the proposed fmwm in this study depicts factors that are germane to waste incidence and processes for their minimization. a major highlight in the framework for waste minimization apart from identifying routes of waste and minimization strategies is the analysis and evaluation of waste. this is seldom practiced in nigeria. for instance, designs are not evaluated for waste in nigeria. thus, a lot of waste that could be prevented at the design stage occurs on site. ekanayake and ofori (2004) developed and recommended building waste assessment score (bwas) model to evaluate designs for potential to generate waste, so as to produce designs that have less potential to generate waste. contractors are also enjoined to employ the model to select site management techniques which help them to face the waste challenge posed by the design. designs should also be subjected to ‘buildability and maintainability analysis’, which will reveal among other things, the inherent waste tendency in designs. moreover, the frameworks suggest that clients need to be educated on the implication of their undue involvement in building projects. additionally, a major advocate in the frameworks is the application of lean construction (lc) techniques in building projects in nigeria. polat and ballard (2005) recommend the application of tools and techniques of lc to prevent waste from occurring by identifying the root-causes of waste and eliminating them at all stages of construction. however, oladiran (2008b) reveals that lc is alien to the nigerian building industry; while the study also indicates the barriers and implementation strategies for lc in nigeria, of which is education and skill development on lc. thus, there has been growing interest, research and development on lc in nigeria; hence its inclusion in the frameworks. furthermore, the validation exercise reinforces the need, relevance and appropriateness of the frameworks. the validation exercise highlights various implementation strategies for them. the practical relevance of the framework can be seen in the evaluation and comments of the potential end users. the following comments were made on the frameworks by some of the respondents: i. if the frameworks are fully implemented on site, waste will be minimized on construction sites. ii. the frameworks are implementable on construction sites and must be effectively practiced. iii. they are good frameworks. iv. the information and the flow is self explanatory. v. there is thorough research and comprehensive details about the framework. the report surely is understandable and obtainable. vi. they are satisfactory. 60 o. j. oladiran et al. / journal of construction business and management (2019) 3(1). 45-61 5. conclusion and recommendations the study opined that frameworks that can be used to minimize material wastage on projects do not exist in nigeria. this gap was filled by the frameworks provided in the study. the frameworks can be used to minimize material waste at every stage of building projects. they suggest that material waste minimization does not start from the sites, but from the clients to everyone involved in the execution of building projects. thus, all stakeholders need an understanding of the issues, content and processes of the framework for effective minimization of material wastage. the study recommends that the proposed fmwm should be adopted by all stakeholders to minimize material waste at all stages of building projects. it should also be adopted to formulate policies for waste minimization. practitioners should be sensitized to the potential gains of the 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(2011). an evaluation of waste control measures in construction industry in nigeria. african journal of environmental science & technology, 5(3), 246 – 254. jcbm (2020) 4(2).46-54. construction quality process implementation as a source of competitive advantage in small and medium-sized construction projects kgashane stephen nyakala 1 , jan-harm christian pretorius 2 and andre vermeulen 2 1 department of operations management, tshwane university of technology, south africa 2postgraduate school engineering management, university of johannesburg, south africa received 13 january 2020; received in revised form 18 october 2020 and 21 january 2021; accepted 23 january 2021. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2.862 abstract it is generally accepted that construction quality process implementation improves construction project performance through the systematic application of quality practices. it is equally established that current quality management systems, particularly compliance management, are essential for small and medium-enterprises (smes) seeking effective completion of roadbuilding infrastructure. despite the opportunities offered by these quality practices, there are potential pitfalls. as low-cost economies proliferate, south african construction smes are under increasing pressure to be more flexible and innovative. the study examines the factors affecting the quality of work produced by construction smes through a regulatory road building procedure, namely design, construction, and execution. a questionnaire survey was conducted among 165 sme contractors, designers, and their experience was recorded of construction quality standards and performance improvement on completed work in the public sector in south africa. a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyse the data. the empirical findings established that five construction quality process factors affect the quality of road infrastructure projects undertaken by construction smes. these factors comprise construction process and design; construction quality management at the site level; the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements; quality benchmarking issues; continuous improvement and communication. this study is of value to designers/consultants and managers in the construction sme sector as it helps to establish the factors affecting the quality of road infrastructure projects. managers in analogous environments may also use the results of this study as a benchmark for competitive advantage. the results also provide a guideline for the successful construction quality implementation in small and medium-sized construction projects. keywords: construction quality; continuous improvement; design; performance; quality management. 1. introduction the construction sector in southern africa itself is challenging because there are various multidimensional liabilities and operational procedures (windapo & cattell, 2013; george, 2016). statistics south africa (2017) reported that 30.1% to 39.4% inefficiency, poor rural road building and lack of construction process planning amongst smes contractors. furthermore, poor road infrastructure and standards, design and construction deficiencies cause considerable contractors problems (tshivhase & worku, 2012; oke, aigbavboa & mokashoa, 2017). one of the most daunting challenges 2 corresponding author. email address: nyakalaks@tut.ac.za hampering development, particularly in evolving rural areas, is one of the widely debated issues related to the poor project implementation and lack of quality of work produced by construction smes (statistics south africa, 2017). in south africa, up to 80 per cent of the road infrastructure is older than its original design life (statistics south africa, 2001-2006). additionally, there is a lack of life cycle costing, inadequate construction design, inefficiencies in material use, poor budgeting, labour shortages and construction difficulties (tshivhase & worku, 2012). reasons for such poor rural road building construction sites include schedule overruns; university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2. mailto:vonifade@unilag.edu.ng mailto:vonifade@unilag.edu.ng k,s. nyakala et al., /journal of construction business and management (2020) 4 (2) 46-54 47 degradation, and loss of trust (mahmood et al., 2010). moreover, such a poor construction quality rate indicates a failure to apply a quality cost model and underutilisation of quality management techniques and tools (marthur et al., 2013). previous studies on construction smes in south africa have considered either lack of clarity over the relative roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities of different road agencies that undermine an assessment of institutional sustainability (haupt & whiteman, 2004; mofokeng & thwala, 2012; tshele & agumba, 2014). improving the construction application process, competence and value of quality systems have become an on-going concern of governments and the international development community (rumane, 2011). hall and sandelands (2009) recognise that improving the construction process and design of rural roads, including technical standards provided through endorsed development assistance, requires the existence of a quality system that meets international standards and that operates as envisioned. the south african local government is obliged to provide roads to the local communities they serve (nyakala, pretorius & vermeulen, 2019). van wyk (2003) postulates that adequate roads contribute to economic growth, redistribution and development of an adequate roads network infrastructure. according to statistics south africa (2017), the enhancement of rural road networks contributes to improving the socioeconomic conditions of communities and supports the materialisation of active co-ordinating constructions through government to promote success in road service delivery. according to aigbavboa and thwala (2014), sme road contractors must use recognised quality management techniques to enable communities to have quality road networks and access to public services such as educational institutions, health facilities, and labour movement between workplaces). the success of construction smes is dependent on the cost-effective deployment of their limited resources of material, technologies, human resources and project management techniques (nel & pretorius, 2014). it has been widely argued that construction quality techniques apply to technical factors, but it is mainly associated with organisational-oriented factors like policies, procedures, and the working environment (van wyk, 2003). construction smes include several technically inexperienced contractors with little knowledge of construction quality management and procedures (statistics south africa, 2017). construction smes are essential to the south african economy's development and growth and intimately related to job creation, economic empowerment, and employment within underprivileged communities (aigbavboa & thwala, 2014; tshele & agumba, 2014). construction smes are operating in a competitive business environment where construction quality through good regulatory and road-building procedural infrastructure from other countries is not uncommon (van wyk, 2003). the poor quality of rural road infrastructure imposes an enormous cost on south africa. the construction ‘bombardments’ undertaken by the department of employment and labour (doe&l) established significant non-compliance to road infrastructure legislation, injuries, accidents (doe&l, 2019). aside from the increasing fatalities, injuries, and medical costs associated with accidents, the economic costs are immense and include lost time, rework, disruption, productivity loss, and loss of skills to the economy (cidb, 2004). the problems and challenges faced in the south african construction industry on rural road infrastructure by construction smes need to be addressed. there is limited research on the rural road infrastructure and standards, design and construction process (statistics south africa, 2017). the study was undertaken on the premise that local roads within mopani district municipality are in a deteriorating condition; lacks proper monitoring and community involvement. an error in the construction design is amplified in the construction process and may only be detected in the execution phase. although the construction process is critical, quality awareness is required in all construction projects, with commitment from project manager to the team members in construction smes (abor & quartey, 2010). the paper examines sme construction quality factors through regulatory road-building procedures, namely design, construction process, and execution. the study focus is on construction quality process implementation that helps smes gain a competitive advantage. the main question to be investigated in this study is “what are the key factors influencing the quality of work (road infrastructure) produced by smes?. 2. literature review this literature review presents an overview of the quality of rural road infrastructure produced by south african construction smes. the implementation process of project control systems and rural roads' performance is an essential source of knowledge about quality management in the construction industry (nkomo, desai & peerbhay, 2016). while van wyk (2003) reviewed the influence of economic, regulatory and public sector capacity on the south african construction industry, mofokeng and thwala (2012) conducted a study on mentorship programmes within the small and medium-sized contractor development programme, and windapo and cattell (2013) investigated the perceptions of key challenges facing the performance, development and growth of the south african construction industry. george (2016) examined the financial challenges facing emerging contractors in developing countries using the critical incident technique. in south africa, construction smes are increasingly diversifying, and operate in socioeconomic and politically unstable environments, face multiple economic and socio-political challenges, and various regulations, political uncertainty and unpredictable markets (haupt & whiteman, 2004; tshele & agumba, 2014). these negative external factors place significant pressures on the internal environment of construction smes (dangalazana & newada, 2005). this study is situated in this challenging road infrastructure and construction process context, where smes are responsible and accountable for the quality of work. 48 s. k. nyakala /journal of construction business and management (2020) 4 (2).46-54 road infrastructure is usually considered as an economic backbone of the community. local government is responsible for ensuring that local roads are built in mandatory standards for the movement of goods, services and people. statistics south africa (2017) showed that smes' challenges in managing the construction of rural access roads by smes were mostly competency related. in south africa, the implementation of construction projects by construction smes has increased over the past few decades (oke, aigbavboa & mokashoa, 2017). value and quality of construction are of concern to both public and private sector customers (haskins, 2010). many factors have a potential impact on poor quality and improper construction design (rumane, 2011). these include the project leader’s role as the champion and key strength behind quality enhancement (bowen, edwards & cattel, 2012); making appropriate responses to technological changes, and project management (hall & sandelands, 2009). poor utilisation of available tools and practices to improve road infrastructure and organisational performance (institution of civil engineers, 1996). the study deduced that poor communication and lack of awareness were the main challenges facing rural road project implementation (muhwezi, acai & otim, 2014). also, that efficient and effective quality procedures and requirements can often make a rural road project successful. the south african government recognises that skills and capabilities are critical success factors driving the performance of construction smes that can be further enhanced by providing appropriate skills training programmes (department of public works, 1999; hall & sandelands, 2009). 2.1 construction process and design in the construction process and design literature, construction quality is becoming a most important research area for practitioners (haupt & whiteman, 2004; hall & sandelands, 2009; honnakker, carayon & loushine, 2010). to measure perceived construction quality, a road construction quality assurance process measurement tool (qapmt) was developed by nyakala et al. (2018), tested in various sme construction projects successfully. it is based on 35 items, comprising eight dimensions: level of the skill acquisition process, project planning and control techniques, project construction design, financial management skills, quality standards, organisational structures, and people involvement. the qapmt, which is used to measure perceived construction quality, can be modified according to project control systems' implementation process. in the road construction industry, various researchers have developed the concept of construction quality and have explored its various dimensions to determine their impact on the design, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned construction projects (dallasega et al., 2015). a study conducted by dallasega et al. (2015) found that designing a framework for supporting the management of the execution phase of sme projects has been reported as the most significant areas of quality management and assurance in the construction industry because effective planning is important for the successful implementation of a project. using an appropriate quality assurance method and project management techniques to resolve construction road quality is also important (institution of civil engineers, 1996).. 2.2 construction quality management at the site level the construction industry is widely criticised for the low quality of both the completed product quality and the processes used during the construction and project design phases (mahmood et al., 2010). substantial time and costs are currently spent on correcting problems during the execution\construction process, and most projects either suffer from time overrun or cost overrun or both (masarini & quinnell, 2010). in addition to the magnitude of time and cost overruns, many studies pinpointed the reasons for cost overruns and delays, revealing frequently similar problems. for example, issues to do with inadequate time, and low cost and design changes control have been identified as a significant cause of poor construction project delivery (haupt & whiteman, 2004). hall and sandelands (2009) suggested that unwanted industry practices emerged in the major slump in construction activity, comprising an unnecessary scramble for work outside practitioners' typical construction fields. a study by honnakker et al. (2010) shows a lack of proper control and appropriate oversight of public funds allocated for construction. a literature study by rumane (2011) identified existing key elements of quality systems used in construction as quality planning, quality control and quality assurance. on the issue of quality assurance activities, using a quality manual as a key document onsite details the project quality processes and guidelines to be followed on projects. such manual sets out steps to be taken to convey quality assurance. managing and controlling actions arises because construction sme environment is dynamic, and projects are often carried out in varying situations. obare et al. (2016) studied the implementation process of project control systems and performance of rural roads construction projects in kenya. they found that the project control systems implementation process is practical, easy to understand and applicable to project managers and team members. as described by rumane (2011), a construction quality implementation process carries out systematic qualities and uses quality reviews to regulate which processes should be used to complete the project requirements and ensure successful implementation. haupt and whiteman (2004) further indicate that quality management principles should be implemented beyond management levels and should comprise the workforce on site. the south african road infrastructure is the heartbeat of economic growth, and it performs the basic yet critical function of providing access and social activities. by implementing quality management principles, construction smes could produce work that meets standards. 2.3 the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements rural roads are vital to bringing the development of areas they serve and make a nation develop and grow. there have been limited studies that assess quality management practices in construction projects from the k,s. nyakala et al., /journal of construction business and management (2020) 4 (2) 46-54 49 viewpoint of quality specialists. a road construction project requires a team effort by all parties, including the construction manager, architect, contract owner, and clients to complete a project. road construction smes find it difficult to sustain continuous quality improvements. to address the difficulty and agree on which quality procedures are required to plan and develop road infrastructure to meet customer requirements. a quality management system (qms) such as iso 9001 that integrates the various internal processes and provides a process approach for project implementation was developed. a process-based qms enables the construction smes to identify, measure, control, and improve the various construction processes that will ultimately improve project performance. practices such as cost-effective quality assurance and control can produce a sustainable competitive advantage and provide sustainability (nel & pretorius, 2014). the design quality is an important factor defining the client requirements and describes the needs that the construction project must satisfy (oke et al., 2017). kruger, ramphal and maritz (2014) suggested that meeting the client's project goals requires an iterative design process in which prerequisite design solutions are defined and improved to meet the target goals. 2.4 quality benchmarking issues construction smes can use benchmarking to understand better the best practices of rural road project activities and, therefore enable them to take early corrective actions (smith & ngoma-smith, 2003). honnakker et al. (2010) noted that top management relates actual or intended project practices to other developments to generate thoughts for improvement. alao and jagboro (2017) argued that construction organisations need to gauge how well they perform against others who undertake comparable tasks. their findings suggest that rural road project managers should investigate other organisations’ processes to determine why others' processes are outclassing their own. incorporating well-respected and knowledgeable roadbuilding team members into quality management roles helps to deliver the value for time and money invested. it ensures that the construction smes do not become paralysed by resource surplus while improving the day the job has to continue (marthur et al., 2013). emphasis should be placed on the processes during the quality benchmarking and implementation process. 2.5 continuous improvement and communication in the perspective of rural road-building projects, once planning is complete; the plan is turned over to the construction team (oke et al., 2017). scholars note that the critical functional area of construction processes is often neglected, even though construction processes are at the heart of many construction organisations (dallasega et al., 2015; smith & ngoma-maema, 2003:345; alao & jagboro, 2017:41). technical support, continuous improvements and performance measurement competencies are often ignored in construction smes settings, even though these are pivotal due to their direct effect on customer satisfaction. implementation of skills developments are requisite for construction planning and are often acquired only through experimental learning (hall & sandelands, 2009: 215; oke et al., 2017). efficient operations enable smes to improve their efficiency and success to reduce costs and enhance customer service. in south africa, though construction smes are currently at the forefront of local economic growth and are supposed to resolve socio-economic difficulties, this sector faces widespread limitations which include increased competition and a decrease in the cost of construction projects hamper them from continuous improvement and quality reassurance (nel & pretorius, 2014). constructor growth and delivery of services also play an important role in achieving the quality of construction projects. rural road buildings/projects have to be planned and organised, considering construction design and efficiencies of materials (nyakala et al., 2019). 3. research methods the study adopted a quantitative method based on a positivist paradigm, employing a structured questionnaire. the questionnaire was piloted, reviewed, and amended by experts and a professional statistician for ease of data analysis (welman et al., 2012; leedy & ormrod, 2014) before being self-distributed to construction sme in mopani district municipality, limpopo province. the specific focus was on construction smes that have been involved with road building infrastructure between 2014 and 2017. a literature review on construction quality-related process implementation in the construction smes, road infrastructure, and local municipality was undertaken. exploratory factor analysis (efa) was used in data analysis. according to tabachnick and fidell (2007), efa can be seen as a type of technique that analyses the unidimensionality (characteristics) of each of the defined construction quality process implementation (original variables), in order to reduce it to a common score (smaller number of factors) by examining relationships among these quantitative factors. the specific focus was on construction smes that have been involved with road building infrastructure between 2014 and 2017. 3.1 sample and sampling design the sample size was obtained using the general rule of thumb based on an estimated 250 retrieved from the mopani district municipality website. the survey targeted construction smes listed in grades 1 to 6 (denotes small and medium enterprises) on the cidb register of contractors. the sample was comprised of 160 projects/construction managers, designers, architectural practitioners, administrators, and road construction smes. a sample random sampling method was used to select five projects from each of the five sampling frames. the criteria for selecting the study population were that respondents must have been working with the identified construction smes and operating at the enterprise's management level listed on the cidb register of contractors. this resulted in selecting ten projects (from the initial five projects) from each of the limpopo local municipalities of mopani district municipality. a total of 160 questionnaires were returned, representing a 64% response rate of 250 questionnaires 50 s. k. nyakala /journal of construction business and management (2020) 4 (2).46-54 distributed. according to kaiser (1974), a rule of thumb prescribes that no less than 50 respondents are appropriate for a correlation or regression with the number increasing with larger numbers of independent variables. this was therefore used as the nominal anchor in determining the sample size. a response rate of less than 25% is not unusual in studies with a population of this size (lorenzoseva et al., 2011; pallant, 2013). such a response rate is acceptable to represent the respondents’ views and opinions (field, 2013). 3.2 research instrument the research instrument used a five-point likert item scale ranging from 1 to 5, whereby each participant indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with the questions posed hence emphasising the significance of selecting the desired response (leedy and ormrod, 2014). the survey tested the personal experience of construction smes regarding their involvement with rural road-building infrastructure over four years (20142017) and identified the preferred construction quality procedures implemented by participating in construction smes. the quantitative research approach supported dichotomous questions and checkboxes to measure data (leedy and ormrod, 2014). frequencies were utilised to calculate percentages of preferences (pallant, 2013). items/variables on construction quality used in the questionnaire were extracted from the literature review, resulting in the compilation of a questionnaire comprising three sections. section a requested information on the respondent’s gender, educational background, and working experience. section b established the involvement of the construction smes based on roadbuilding infrastructure for over four years. it also examined the preferred construction quality procedures implemented by construction smes. the respondents were required to indicate their level of involvement, in practice, with construction quality, procedures and requirements and the responses were tabulated. to reduce bias, fixed closed-ended questions were preferred (welman et al., 2012; leedy & ormrod, 2014). 4. data analysis data analysis was conducted using statistical package for the social sciences (spss) version 24.0 to compute frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and regression analysis (pallant, 2013). in addition to this, spss was used to conduct a factor analysis of road construction quality process and to determine the internal reliability of the factors in the questions on construction quality process implementation, cronbach’s alpha values were tested (tavakol & dennick, 2011). tavakol and dennick (2011) further state that cronbach's alpha's acceptable values would range from 0.70 to 0.95. in this study, a cut-off value of 0.70 was adopted (see table 2). furthermore, in order to confirm whether the data from the measurements was sufficient for the test, the validity (factor analysis), the kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo) test (kaiser, 1994; lorenzo-seva et al., 2011) and bartlett's sphericity test (field, 2013) were performed. according to pallant (2013), in the kmo test, the test values vary from 0 to 1, values above 0.7 are recommended, and indicates that sufficient correlations exist between the variables to continue with the analysis (kaiser, 1994). 5. results 5.1 respondents’ profile the questionnaires were distributed to 250 sme contractors, of which 160 responded. table 1 displays the profile of the participants. a total of 122 respondents were male (76.3%), while 38 were female (23.8%). this response implies that males still dominate road construction. the highest educational level was a first degree/ diploma (34.4%), grade 11 or lower (20.0%), grade 12 (n3) only (19.4%), honors/b-tech (23.1%), masters/m-tech (3.1%), with 8.1% having 12 or more years working in road construction. further to this, data indicated that the majority of respondents did not have a masters’ qualification. due to inappropriate tertiary masters' degree, a lack of knowledge and experience is evident; improvement of curriculum and enhanced tertiary architectural education was included as an enabler relating to education and skills provision (mofokeng & thwala, 2012). stimulating professional accreditation and engaging construction management highest educational courses are considered an enabler toward education and skills provision (george, 2016). table 1 shows that the respondents were distributed by staff positions as follows: project administrators (41.9%), qa engineer or architect (15.6%), client/manager (15.0%), quantity surveyor (11.3%), and government officials (4.4%). table 1: respondents’ profile frequency % gender distribution male 122 76.3% female 38 23.8% highest educational level grade 11 or lower 32 20.0% grade 12 (n3) only 31 19.4% first degree/diploma 55 34.4% honours/b-tech 37 23.1% masters/m-tech 5 3.1% staff position occupied quantity surveyor 18 11.3% client/manager 24 15.0% project/construction manager 19 11.9% architect/qa engineer 25 15.6% project administrator 67 41.9% government official 7 4.4% number of years working in construction less than 3 years 5 3.1% 3-6 years 42 26.3% 6-9 years 37 23.1% 9-12 years 63 39.4% 12 or more years of working 13 8.1% total 160 100.0% 5.2 validity and reliability in order to determine the reliability and validity of the measuring instrument, a panel consisting of six authorities k,s. nyakala et al., /journal of construction business and management (2020) 4 (2) 46-54 51 in the discipline of construction project delivery, construction process and road building infrastructure was requested to assess the ability of the questionnaire items to appropriately measure the concepts under investigation (cidb, 2004; hall & sandelands, 2009; lorenzo-seva et al., 2011; welman et al., 2012). a pilot test involving a purposive sample of six respondents was also conducted. feedback obtained from these procedures facilitated further refinement of the questionnaire items (honnakker et al., 2010). the scale's internal consistencies in the instrument showed cronbach alpha coefficients (refer to table 2) ranging between 0.713 to 0.871, while the alpha score for the entire scale was 0.772. field (2013) and pallant (2013) recommended that since these alpha values were all above the minimum acceptable level of 0.70, it was concluded that the measurement scales used in the study were internally consistent and reliable. table 2: mean scores and internal consistencies factor name number of items cronbach alpha mean score position in mean score rank construction quality management at the site level 6 0.722 4.129 5 quality benchmarking issues 7 0.871 3.901 4 the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements 4 0.707 3.924 3 continuous improvement and communication 6 0.845 4.163 2 construction process and design 20 0.713 4.531 1 scale (section b): 1=strongly disagree: 2=disagree: 3=neutral: 4= agree: 5= strongly agree table 2 indicates the mean scores of the factor scales considered in the study. these ranged between 3.901 and 4.531, representing clear inclinations towards either the agree/strongly agree or the satisfied positions on the likert scales. respondents were, therefore, satisfied with the existing levels of these factors in their road construction projects. as depicted in table 2, the respondents perceived that the failure of many road construction projects in south africa could partially be ascribed to the quality of roads constructed by sme contractors. correlation of the construction quality implementation process and importance variables using factor analysis identified factor 1 as ‘construction process and design’; factor 2 as ‘construction quality management’; factor 3 as ‘the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements’; factor 4 as ‘quality benchmarking issues’; and factor 5 as ‘continuous improvement and communication in the construction industry’. 5.3 regression analysis the hypotheses formulated to guide the study's direction were tested using linear regression analysis. this inferential statistical technique is performed to identify the variables predicting the best explanation of the total variance in the scores of a set of dependent variables (pallant, 2013). construction processes and design was entered into the regression model as the dependent variable. the four factors; namely, construction quality management at the site level; constructing the quality procedures and requirements; benchmarking; continuous improvement and communication, were entered as the independent variables. the results are reported in table 3. table 3: regression model independent variables: extrinsic motivation factors dependent variable: construction processes and design standard coefficients t sig. collinearity statistics beta tolerance vif construction quality management at the site level 0.291 4.265 0.000 0.571 the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements 0.248 5.844 0.001 0.682 quality benchmarking issues 0.109 1.995 0.040 0.595 continuous process improvement 0.276 2.137 0.002 0.709 model summary: r=0.478 adjusted r2 =0.438 f=16.727 std.error of the estimate=0.84386 a comparison of the mean scores shows that construction process and design (mean=4.531) scored the highest mean, meaning that respondents were most satisfied with this factor compared to the other four. the four independent factors accounted for approximately 44% (r2 = 0.438) of the variance explained in construction processes and design. collinearity statistics for the four independent variables were satisfactory, indicating that the problem of multicollinearity was insignificant in this study since there were no high correlations between the independent variables. all tolerance values fell above 0.5, as prescribed by kaiser (1974). variance factor (vif) values fell between 1.0 and 4.0, as recommended by gorsuch (1983). 6. discussion in factor 1: construction quality management at site level factor was supported and consequently accepted in this study because the regression model indicated that the relationship between construction quality management factor at site level and construction process and design 52 s. k. nyakala /journal of construction business and management (2020) 4 (2).46-54 was statistically significant (beta= 0.291; t=4.265; p<0.000). this result demonstrates that quality management activities indicate the process implementation among employees in the construction smes. these findings are consistent with the findings of a study conducted by haupt and whiteman (2004). they recommend using a formal quality manual and formal control mechanisms (e.g., open book bookkeeping for accountability during construction projects to augment formal control. haskins (2010) also emphasises that an effective project manager consult their subordinates in relating to early and sustained integration of the key quality management activities, and control processes to improve planning effectiveness and accuracy. van wyk (2003) further added that site management should be more informed about the initial stage planning techniques. construction quality management enhances teamwork and better performance (honnakker et al., 2010); and enable the success of construction process implementation (nyakala et al., 2019). therefore, it is important to ensure that the right people are chosen for the construction process. in factor 2: the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements factor was supported and accepted in this study. there was a statistically significant relationship between the construction process and the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements (beta= 0.248; t=5.844; p<0.001). this finding depicts that the state of quality procedures and requirements reveals the construction industry's degree of construction process and design. mahmood et al. (2010) observed that inadequate measurable requirement planning, cost overruns in construction smes road infrastructure projects could be attributed to a failure in determining the cost of poor quality and its impact on profitability and requirements. a study by masarini and quinnell (2010) found that quality management practices in building construction are a dominant factor influencing construction quality process implementation. a study by nyakala et al. (2019) suggests that determining major quality planning, procedures, and road-building requirements will provide a support system to construction smes. this means that in order for the construction smes in the construction industry to grow, project managers must understand quality procedures and requirements in such a way that both employees and the organisation will benefit in the end (abor & quartey, 2010). in factor 3: quality benchmarking issues found support and was subsequently accepted in this study since there was a statistically significant relationship (beta= 0.109; t=1.995; p<0.040) between quality benchmarking and construction process and design. this finding illustrates that quality benchmarking is a useful measure of the construction industry's level of construction quality implementation in road building infrastructure. these findings support previous research by abor and quartey (2010) and rumane (2011). abor and quartey (2010) found that implementation guidelines should specifically serve as a mechanism for avoiding poor construction quality, inability to network with well-established contractors, and lack of construction process abilities. rumane (2011) drew similar conclusions in a study that examined the quality benchmarking in the construction industry. dallasega et al. (2015) further contend that project team leader, and owners should develop quality improvement guidelines for their road construction projects that focus on high-quality, processes and procedures in the interest of construction excellence. in factor 4: continuous process improvement and communication was supported and thus accepted in this study as there was a statistically significant relationship (beta=0.276; t=2.137; p<0.002) between continuous process improvement and communication, and construction process and design. this finding illustrates that continuous process improvement amongst employees in the construction industry depends on the construction process and design. the study supports previous findings by honnakker et al. (2010) who found that continuous process improvement is a dominant factor influencing the construction process. cidb (2004) adds that continuous process improvement has emerged as a hindrance to the development and success of construction projects in any country because it determines the extent to which employees are motivated and satisfied to achieve organisational goals. these findings suggest that the implementation of construction processes will ensure that rural road-building inefficiencies are identified and resolved during the planning phase. these results support previous studies by thorpe, summer and duncan (1996); arditi and gunaydin (1997) argue in favour of an appropriate construction quality process implementation contributing towards total quality management with technical approaches that can facilitate quality road infrastructure in the construction industry. acquiescence, attentiveness and unselfish observance to construction quality process and standards must be established and measured frequently (hall & sandelands, 2009). quality standards and systems need to be incorporated to allow the construction organisation to meet its clients’ requirements (institution of civil engineers, 1996). 6. conclusions and recommendations in this study, the factors affecting the quality of work produced by construction smes within the local government of the limpopo province, south africa, were analysed via a questionnaire based on the rural road quality paradigm. the study found five construction quality implementation processes to be considered by sme contractors and local government managers that seek to institute and develop an effective qualitative rural road infrastructure programme. based on these findings, this study concludes that the quality process implementation factors that should be considered the construction smes are (1) construction process design; (2) construction quality management; (3) the development and implementation of quality procedures and requirements; (4) quality benchmarking issues; (5) continuous improvement and communication. objectives for sme construction projects (see table 2) is confirmed as important characteristics for construction quality process implementation, which is also aligned to literature (cidb, 2004; abor & quartey, 2010; honnakker et al., 2010; alao & jagboro, 2017). it k,s. nyakala et al., /journal of construction business and management (2020) 4 (2) 46-54 53 emerged that all factors were statistically significant, which implies that they are a procedural indicator of construction process and design. therefore, it is appropriate to conclude that the construction process and design in the construction industry depend on construction quality management, quality procedures and requirements, quality benchmarking issues, and continuous process improvement. the study recommends that for construction smes to improve their road construction projects, administrators or contractors and their staff members need to implement construction quality procedure effectively throughout the construction process. they need to concurrently observe, examine, and assess the construction quality process at either operational or strategic process ranks. it is also recommended that practical construction quality process guidance for emerging contractors and construction smes must be appropriately implemented and used efficiently. construction quality process workshops must be provided for the required exceptional quality control of rural road projects. in the current study, theoretical and practical implications have been provided. on the theoretical perspective, the study presents evidence of the dynamics in the relationship between the factors considered in this study, specifically in the context of the construction smes related road-building projects. in this regard, the study serves as a source of reference for future studies on similar issues. on the practical front, construction/project managers in the construction industry will enhance the degree of construction process and design amongst employees in their working settings by implementing effective construction quality process on the four independent variables considered in this study. limitations of the study there were limitations associated with the sampling of the population and analysis of data. because the study was not across south africa, the findings cannot be generalised to road projects and sme contractors in south africa and contractors not listed on the cidb register of contractors. further research the study has raised several issues suitable for further research. a quantitative research approach was used in this study; 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received in revised form 16 october 2020, 12 feburary 2021 and 13 may 2021; accepted 20 may 2021. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1.950 abstract the purpose of this paper is to examine the causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice to address the menace for enhanced service delivery. using survey research design, primary data were collected through the administration of structured questionnaires on quantity surveyors in the 125 registered quantity surveying firms in lagos state, nigeria. the respondents were asked to rate the identified 34 causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice on a 5-point likert scale. the elicited data were analysed using mean score analysis. factor analysis was, after that, used to explore and detect the underlying relationship among the identified variables and categorise them into key factors. the results of the mean score statistics identified 32 important causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice, with the four most important ones being an unwillingness to seek professional advice and consultation, unwillingness to pay for professional services, lack of effective systems of punishment for quacks and inadequate monitoring by the quantity surveying professional association and regulatory body. it was concluded that the causes of quackery in quantity surveying are multidimensional and can be narrowed down to unethical practices, client engagement, job security, regulatory and corruption-related issues. the identified causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice will be useful in formulating policy and serve as future research agenda towards eradicating the menace and engendering an enhanced service delivery. keywords: causes of quackery; nigeria; quackery; quantity surveying; service delivery. 1. introduction quackery is a menace that has plagued virtually every profession, including engineering, health, and law, across all nations of the world (adeyemi, 2015). the act of quackery, as widely experienced across all professions in the built environment (adeyemi, 2016), has caused many damages in the industry. for quantity surveying practice, the roles of quantity surveyors have evolved significantly in recent times. however, they are constantly confronted with the issue of the incursion of quacks and invasion of unprofessional personnel, as well as unhealthy competition from allied professionals. while the regulatory body of the profession in nigeria, the quantity surveyors registration board of nigeria (qsrbn), has taken measures to regulate the practice of the profession within the codes of professional ethics and conduct, the 2 corresponding author. email address: debbyjoe2002@yahoo.com ©2021 the author(s). published by uct library. this is an open access article under the cc by 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ profession is being encroached by quacks. this is making the profession suffer continuous poor public perception (iyortyer, 2016). currently, the quantity surveying profession is witnessing unregulated practices occasioned by incursion and invasion of quacks, by an army of unprofessional personnel of all manners, into the fields unrelated to their area of competency (njoku, 2011; ibrahim, 2012). this has led to unhealthy competition from allied professionals, outright disrespect for professionalism and far-reaching untoward consequences on construction project delivery (nnadi and ugwu, 2014). traditionally, quantity surveyors are responsible for construction projects' cost and contract management functions (shafiei and said, 2008; ekung and okonkwo, 2015). they possess expertise that enhances the design process through the logical use of cost parameters to sustain viable university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1. mailto:debbyjoe2002@yahoo.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ j.o. dada and g.o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 29 links relating to price, utility and forms, which assist in attaining construction project objectives within the predetermined budget (maarouf and habib, 2011). quantity surveyors add value, predominantly, to the financial and contractual management of projects. they contribute to overall project performance by deploying appropriate competencies (nkado and meyer, 2001; dada and jagboro, 2012). these competencies are aimed at accomplishing projects that meet clients’ value expectations (olanrewaju and anahve, 2015). however, quackery has caused many damages to the practice of the profession, with attendant consequences on the patronage of quantity surveying services and construction project delivery at large. this paper, therefore, reports the results of an exploratory survey aimed at examining the causes of quackery in the profession and factorising them into key components. 2. an overview of quackery in built environment professions in nigeria the term ‘built environment’ refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activities (olapade, 2016). it consists of professionals who involve in the design, construction and maintenance of the built environment. these built environment professionals include architects, engineers, builders, estate surveyors and valuers, quantity surveyors, land surveyors and urban and regional planners (national building code, 2006; owolabi and olatunji, 2014; olapade, 2016). each of these professionals has a unique role to play in the successful development of a nation. however, quack practices cut across all professions in the built environment (adeyemi, 2016). this corroborates kuroshi's (2017) view and chendo and obi (2015) as they confirmed quack activities in the building profession and showed how their activities have contributed to substandard buildings resulting in building collapse in nigeria. kuroshi (2017) defined a quack in the building profession as a trained professional not registered and licensed by the council of registered builders of nigeria (corbon) and is involved in building production management. kuroshi condemned the way and manner construction processes were being managed and executed in the country because of the belief that all the professions should be involved in the building process. tanko et al. (2013) affirmed that quacks had penetrated the engineering profession at all levels, from design to construction and maintenance phases of engineering structures and services. they explicated how these activities have led to human and financial losses due to the engineering failure of buildings by pointing out typical examples of the failure of buildings either during or after construction being experienced regularly. they also noted how the profession's integrity is being eroded gradually because of the activities of quacks. asor (2015) classified quacks into three groups. the first group are real professionals who engage in the act of quackery. second are non-professionals who claim to be professionals and engage in the act of quackery. the last group are those who have no knowledge of a particular profession but learn the trade and practice the profession because of their intelligence. olapade (2016) identified six possible causes of the incursion of quacks into the real estate profession and considered "misinterpretation of roles by professionals in the built environment" as "major". nemieboka (2010) argued that the activities of quacks in the real estate sector are responsible for the high sales and rental values of real estate. a study by oladokun and ojo (2011) looked into the incursion of nonprofessionals in property management practice in nigeria, while oloyede et al. (2011) discussed the issues confronting the estate surveying and valuation profession in nigeria and gave four reasons why trespassers continue to flow into real estate business. the first reason was given as the inadequacy of registered estate surveyors and valuers to satisfy the local demand for their services. the second reason was poor service delivery, while the third was given as greed and high financial gain derivable from property management practice. finally, the fourth reason was identified as a shortage of qualified personnel. the activities of quacks have resulted in a lot of confusion and problems within the industry and society. didigwu (2017) and nwannekanma (2016) confirmed a high influx of other professionals into the town planning profession. they opined that most land surveyors engage in layout plans design even when the law categorically vests the power to prepare a layout plan on the registered town planner. it was further posited that some architects, draftsmen and numerous quacks interfere with the practice. thus, quackery in the built environment professions is causing much damage to the construction industry. 3. causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice akomolade (2006) classified quacks, who often parade themselves as professional quantity surveyors, into two groups. the first category is the educated ones who studied other disciplines different from quantity surveying at a university or polytechnic. this category takes advantage of lack of work or economic viability in their hitherto business areas to venture into other disciplines diametrically. if they had been successful in their professional callings, the need for encroaching on other fields would not have arisen. the second class are quantity surveying graduates without professional certification or licence. finally, the worst quacks are persons from fields unrelated to the construction industry like economists, lawyers, accountants, and quantity surveying practices for which they have no clue. studies have revealed the possible causes of quackery in the quantity surveying profession. osubor (2017) submitted that in nigeria, the quantity surveyor's relevance/value and services are not maximised, especially in civil and heavy engineering projects. this has resulted in leaving construction cost experts forced out of their professional role by others not competent in those areas. osubor (2017) further posited that external threats from other professions usurping the duties of the quantity surveyor, lack of publicity of the quantity surveyor, and ignorance of global best practices are other factors that contribute to the situation. olapade (2016) explained that unlike other professions such as medicine, pharmacy and law, where graduates are subjected to 30 j. o. dada and g. o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 further practical training before being licensed to practice, further training in the built environmental courses is acquired in active and non-active professional firms upon graduation. this has accounted for the lack of uniformity of practical training. nnadi and alintah-abel (2016) added the issue of unwillingness to pay for professional services, especially by private building clients. jimoh et al. (2016) opined the difficulty of clients in identifying the right professionals and the opinion that the same results will be obtained when non-professionals are given construction projects to handle as instrumental to the prevalence of quackery. omeife and windapo (2013); dahiru, salau and usman (2014); and babalola and anifowose (2015) have also alluded to the naivety of clients, owing to restriction to professional service advertisement in compliance with the professional code of conduct, as contributing to the menace of quackery. aniekwu, anthony and kehinde (2015) and inuwa, usman and dantong (2014) identified corruption as a cause of quackery. olanrewaju and anifowose (2014) established that rivalry among the professionals in the industry causes professional quackery. njoroge (2013) submitted that lack of an effective regulatory framework (i.e. poor implementation of existing policies and programmes or lack of harmonisation and coordination) causes quackery in a profession. jimoh (2012) also supported the fact that the roles of a particular profession, when not well appreciated by the public, can cause quackery. ede (2011) opined that when trained professionals operate illicitly (without a license) in the different fields of construction, quacks tend to infiltrate into the profession. from the review carried out, it is evident that quackery, in the quantity surveying practice, is prevalent and cannot be underestimated. there are many factors responsible for the actions that need to be critically examined to enhance the quantity surveying service delivery. 4. research method this research examined the causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice. the survey research method was adopted for the study. the method is based on statistical sampling through questionnaire, has been frequently used for data collection in exploratory research. it is appropriate for collecting data because of its advantage in yielding responses in standard format from many respondents and the benefit of collecting data from respondents from geographically dispersed locations. a structured, self-administered questionnaire was used in eliciting the necessary data required for the research. the first part of the questionnaire elicited general information about the respondents, including respondents' designation, years of experience, academic and professional qualifications, and their organisations. the other part dealt with issues relating to the causes of quackery in quantity surveying. the respondents' answers ranged on a 5 point likert scale from least significant to most significant. the study was carried out in lagos state, given the high concentration of respondents in the state. a copy of the questionnaire was administered to a quantity surveyor in each of the 125 registered quantity surveying firms practising in lagos state (niqs, 2018). in all, a total of 57 filled (appropriate for analysis) copies of the questionnaire were returned. this represents 45.6% of the total number of copies of the questionnaire administered. data obtained were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. 5. data analysis thirty-four possible causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice were used for the study. these were synthesised from the reviewed literature. most of the variables were identified from olapade (2016); osubor (2017); nnadi and alintah-abel (2016); jimoh et al. (2016); anthony and kehinde (2015); inuwa et al. (2014); omoife and windapo (2013) and olanrewaju and anifowose (2014). the variable constructs were set out for the respondents to rate their significance levels. the statistical package for social sciences (spss) was used to rank the variables based on the mean values of the responses. in order to gain insights into the variables, factor analysis was employed to analyse the structure of interrelationships among the variables by defining a set of common underlying factors. given the plethora of variables involved, several significant variables will measure the same criteria. the fundamental concept underlying factor analysis is the ability to statistically manipulate the empirical relationship among several variables to help reveal conjectural constructs of relationships (neuman and kreuger, 2003). this view is usually adopted to reduce several variables to a smaller set of underlying factors that summarise the essential information contained in the variables (pallant, 2010; coakes and steed, 2001). the sample size determines the reliability of factor analysis as correlation coefficients change from one set to another. the suitability of the data collected was assessed through kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo – test) to measure sampling adequacy and bartlett's test of sphericity. 6. results and discussion 6.1 respondents’ information the demographic features of the questionnaire administered to the respondents include the present position in their firm, years of experience in the industry, academic and professional qualification. this was to ascertain the suitability and reliability of their responses. as presented in table 1. table 1: background information of the respondents parameters frequency % present position in the firm principal partner 9 15.8 associate qs 15 26.3 senior qs 28 49.1 assistant qs 5 8.8 years of experience in the construction industry 6-10 years 16 28.1 11-15 years 14 24.6 16-20 years 12 21.0 above 20 years 10 17.5 academic qualification of respondent j.o. dada and g.o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 31 higher national diploma (hnd) 11 19.3 bsc./b.tech 30 52.6 msc./m.tech 13 22.8 pgd 3 5.3 higher national diploma (hnd) 11 19.3 professional qualification of respondent mniqs 41 71.9 faqs 9 15.8 rics 2 3.5 other 5 8.8 total 57 100 the results indicate that most respondents were in the top echelon of their firms with over ten years of experience and requisite academic and professional qualifications. furthermore, the results show that the respondents were both academically and professionally qualified, and therefore, the information given by them is reliable. ho and ng (2003) considered experience as an important attribute for quantity surveyors. also, the level of experience and years spent in quantity surveying practice provides a solid foundation for any survey (smith, 2009). 6.2 awareness of environmental waste management practices the results of the causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice are as presented in table 2, show that the mean scores (ms) range from 2.82 to 4.33. unwillingness to seek professional advice and consultation was the most important cause of quackery in the study area with ms = 4.33 (sd = 1.11). unwillingness to pay for professional services was ranked second most important cause of quackery with ms = 4.33 (sd = 1.22). the third most important cause of quackery was lack of effective punishment systems for quacks with ms = 4.28 and the fourth being inadequate monitoring by the quantity surveying professional association and regulatory body (niqs and qsrbn) with ms = 3.98. table 2: causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice causes of quackery in quantity surveying ms sd rank unwillingness to seek professional advice and consultation 4.33 1.11 1 unwillingness to pay for professional services 4.33 1.22 2 lack of effective systems of punishment for quacks 4.28 1.00 3 inadequate monitoring by the qs professional association and regulatory body (niqs & qsrbn) 3.98 0.98 4 politics in the award of contract/godfatherism 3.97 0.93 5 weaknesses of the legal and regulatory framework 3.90 0.78 6 societal corruption 3.81 0.97 7 clients inability to identify professionals 3.79 0.80 8 loss of priority by the professional association and regulatory body 3.64 0.85 9 excessive love for money/greed 3.63 0.84 10 unfair award of contract to quacks 3.63 1.02 11 underpayment of consultancy fees 3.63 1.11 12 lack of transparency in contract award procedures 3.61 1.07 13 leaking of tender information to quacks 3.60 1.03 14 lack of fairness in the award of quantity surveying jobs 3.60 1.11 15 weaknesses in investigative structures of the professional association and regulatory body 3.58 0.92 16 lack of political will in regulating the quantity surveyors’ activities 3.58 0.99 17 socio-economic challenges 3.53 0.97 18 monopoly of practice 3.52 0.88 19 collusion between quacks and procurement officials 3.52 1.00 20 lack of discretion by the professional association and regulatory body 3.50 0.95 21 tailoring of a contract to favour quacks 3.48 1.05 22 professional indiscipline and unethical behaviour 3.44 0.99 23 availability of national database of skilled quantity surveyors 3.38 1.29 24 hiding tender document information from professionals 3.38 1.35 25 profit maximisation by professionals 3.37 1.25 26 lack of interdisciplinary collaboration to live up to professional expectations 3.36 1.08 27 attitudes of procurement officials 3.35 1.17 28 high cost of engaging professionals 3.35 1.28 29 job insecurity 3.34 0.96 30 procurement officials demanding money from quacks 3.25 1.08 31 lack of transparency by the professional regulatory body 3.08 1.03 32 lack of uniformity in practical training 2.99 1.20 33 ageing population of highly skilled quantity surveyors 2.82 1.09 34 the results of the survey are aligned with the findings of nnadi and alintah-abel (2016), jimoh et al. (2016); inuwa, usman and dantong (2014); njoroge (2013) and omeife and windapo (2013), who identified unwillingness to pay for professional services, clients' inability to identify the right professionals, corruption, lack of effective regulatory framework and unwillingness to seek professional advice as causes of quackery. quacks 32 j. o. dada and g. o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 believe in the value of the services they offer and reject both the contrary evidence provided by professional associations and regulatory bodies and the authority of these bodies to influence their behavior. dada and jagboro, (2012) opined that quantity surveyors need to continuously engage in lifelong learning to keep abreast with rapid advances in technology and knowledge that have profound impact on their current and evolving service offerings. in doing this, quantity surveyors will be able to deliver excellent services thereby increasing quantity surveying awareness, win clients’ trust and limit their patronage for individuals who cannot give them professional services. on a general note, there exist more possibilities of recording higher rates of quackery in developing nations of the world due to issues ranging from poverty to weak government policies and enforcement of the same. 6.3 factor analysis of causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice in exploring the underlying relationship among the identified variables, the factor analysis statistical technique was used to categorise them into key factors. bartlett's measure tests the null hypothesis that the original correlation matrix is an identity matrix. for factor analysis to be adequate, kaiser (1974) recommended a minimum value of 0.5 as acceptable. furthermore, hutcheson and sofroniou (1999) recommended values between 0.7 and 0.8 as good, values between 0.8 and 0.9 as excellent and values above 0.9 as superb. as shown in table 3, the kmo is 0.719, which falls into the good category; hence, factor analysis is appropriate for the data set. table 3: kmo and bartlett's test of causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice kaiser-meyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy 0.719 bartlett's test of sphericity approx. chi-square 1537.577 df 496 sig. 0.000 similarly, bartlett's test of sphericity is highly significant (p = 0.000), suggesting that the responses were valid and suitable. also, the communality, which describes the total amount of original variance shared with all other variables in the analysis and useful in determining the final variables extracted, was established. the average commonality of the variables after extraction was 0.62. this indicates the significance of the variables for further analysis (kaizer, 1974; braeken and van assen, 2016). table 4: reduced component of factors causing quackery in quantity surveying practice communalities factor component initial extraction loss of priority by the professional association and regulatory body 1.000 0.606 lack of political will in regulating the quantity surveyors’ activities 1.000 0.725 lack of interdisciplinary collaboration to live up to professional expectations 1.000 0.641 excessive love for money/greed 1.000 0.709 politics in the award of contract/godfatherism 1.000 0.515 professional indiscipline and unethical behaviour 1.000 0.327 societal corruption 1.000 0.581 unwillingness to pay for professional services 1.000 0.653 unwillingness to seek professional advice and consultation 1.000 0.547 underpayment of consultancy fees 1.000 0.724 job insecurity 1.000 0.614 lack of transparency by the professional association and regulatory body 1.000 0.547 high cost of engaging professionals 1.000 0.450 profit maximisation by professionals 1.000 0.610 inadequate monitoring by the qs professional association and regulatory body (niqs, qsrbn) 1.000 0.737 lack of transparency in contract award procedures 1.000 0.692 lack of discretion by the professional association and regulatory body 1.000 0.507 weaknesses of legal and regulatory framework 1.000 0.556 attitudes of procurement officials 1.000 0.540 monopoly of practice 1.000 0.392 weaknesses in investigative structures of the professional association and regulatory body 1.000 0.609 lack of fairness in the award of quantity surveying jobs 1.000 0.463 tailoring of a contract to favour quacks 1.000 0.747 leaking of tender information to quacks 1.000 0.770 collusion between quacks and procurement officials 1.000 0.840 hiding tender document information from professionals 1.000 0.830 procurement officials demanding money from quacks 1.000 0.686 unfair award of contract to quacks 1.000 0.604 lack of effective systems of punishment of quacks 1.000 0.590 clients inability to identify professionals 1.000 0.634 lack of national database of skilled quantity surveyors 1.000 0.656 socio-economic challenge 1.000 0.681 extraction method: principal component analysis j.o. dada and g.o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 33 having established that data collected were suitable for conducting factor analysis, using varimax normalisation, the data were subjected to factor analysis, presented in table 4. the results were subjected to further analysis to extract the eigenvalues of the factors that cause quackery in quantity surveying practice. the factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 were retained for this purpose. six out of the 32 variables met these criteria (table 5). the six extracted factors cumulatively explained 61.817% of the variation in the data. this supports the proportional variance criterion of at least 50% variation of the extracted variables (coakes and steed, 2001; pallant, 2010). table 5: total variance explained for causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice component initial eigenvalues extraction sums of squared loadings rotation sums of squared loadings no total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % 1 8.672 27.099 27.099 8.672 27.099 27.099 5.863 18.320 18.320 2 3.014 9.418 36.518 3.014 9.418 36.518 3.719 11.621 29.942 3 2.363 7.385 43.903 2.363 7.385 43.903 3.043 9.508 39.450 4 2.158 6.742 50.645 2.158 6.742 50.645 2.930 9.155 48.604 5 1.947 6.084 56.730 1.947 6.084 56.730 2.270 7.093 55.697 6 1.628 5.088 61.817 1.628 5.088 61.817 1.958 6.120 61.817 7 1.421 4.441 66.258 8 1.269 3.965 70.224 9 1.170 3.657 73.881 10 1.070 3.345 77.225 11 0.917 2.865 80.091 12 0.728 2.276 82.366 13 0.631 1.973 84.339 14 0.564 1.763 86.102 15 0.495 1.547 87.649 16 0.464 1.451 89.100 17 0.419 1.309 90.408 18 0.399 1.246 91.654 19 0.373 1.165 92.819 20 0.335 1.047 93.866 21 0.297 0.928 94.794 22 0.248 0.776 95.570 23 0.240 0.750 96.320 24 0.218 0.682 97.006 25 0.209 0.652 97.654 26 0.173 0.541 98.195 27 0.156 0.488 98.683 28 0.112 0.349 99.032 29 0.091 0.285 99.317 30 0.084 0.262 99.579 31 0.074 0.233 99.811 32 0.060 0.189 100.000 extraction method: principal component analysis this shows that 61.817% of the common variance shared by the 32 variables can be accounted for by six components. however, following the recommendations of field (2005); gosling, rentfrow and swann (2003); little, linderberger and nesselroade (1999) and velicer and fava (1998), stating that a limit should be set to the maximisation process since the number of items per factor is crucial and thus recommended adherence to no fewer than three items per factor. it was found that one of the six components had less than three loading items. therefore, the component with less than three items was discarded. the observed variance of the five remaining variables accounted for 56.728% of the observed variance. table 6 presents the rotated component matrix of the five major factors. before interpretation of the five extracted factors, it is essential to name them. the name given to each factor was generated based on the interrelated characteristics and coupled with the loading value. the five factors extracted for this study were named unethical practice related factor, client engagement related factor, job security related factor, regulatory factor and corruption-related factor. the loading values of variables in all the factor components range from 0.579 to 0.860. from the overall ranking of all the variables based on their factor loadings, the top most ranked cause of quackery factor was collusion between quacks and procurement officials with a factor loading of 34 j. o. dada and g. o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 0.860. other causes of quackery include hiding tender documents/information from professionals, leaking of tender information to quacks, procurement officials demanding money from quacks, unfair award of contracts to quacks, tailoring of contracts to favour quacks, monopoly of practice, the attitude of procurement officials and lack of fairness in the award of quantity surveying jobs. this result considerably agrees with the results of top-ranked causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice in table 2. table 6: principal factor extraction and total variance explained of causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice components factor loadings initial eigenvalue % of total variance explained before extraction cumulative % of total variance explained after rotation component 1-unethical practice related factor 8.67 27.09 18.32 collusion between quacks and procurement officials 0.860 hiding tender document information from professionals 0.853 leaking of tender information to quacks 0.829 procurement officials demanding money from quacks 0.792 unfair award of contract to quacks 0.707 tailoring of the contract to favour quacks 0.662 monopoly of practice 0.580 attitudes of procurement officials 0.556 lack of fairness in the award of quantity surveying jobs 0.552 component 2-client engagement related factor 3.01 9.41 11.62 unwillingness to pay for professional services 0.784 clients inability to identify professionals 0.744 lack of effective systems of punishment of quacks 0.671 unwillingness to seek professional advice and consultation 0.645 lack of national database of skilled quantity surveyors 0.592 component 3-job security related factor 2.36 7.38 9.51 lack of transparency by the professional association and regulatory body 0.661 job insecurity 0.638 socio-economic challenge 0.630 profit maximisation by professionals 0.588 underpayment of consultancy fees 0.545 component 4-regulatory factor 2.15 6.74 9.16 inadequate monitoring by the qs professional association and regulatory body (niqs, qsrbn) 0.707 weaknesses of legal and regulatory framework 0.700 lack of transparency in contract award procedures 0.655 lack of discretion by the professional association and regulatory body 0.516 component 5-corruption related factor 1.94 6.08 7.09 excessive love for money/greed 0.832 politics in the award of contract/godfatherism 0.598 societal corruption 0.579 extraction method: principal component analysis, rotation method: varimax with kaiser normalisation, rotation converged in 11 iterations. factor 1: unethical practice related factor as detailed in table 6, factor 1 was labelled unethical practice. it accounted for 27.099 % of the observed variance, with nine loading variables having load scores that ranged ≥0.552≤0.860. variables loaded under this factor included collusion between quacks and procurement officials, hiding tender document information from professionals, leaking of tender information to quacks, procurement officials demanding money from quacks, among others. these are purely unethical practices that are unacceptable in any professional clime. factor 2: client factor the second factor, which explained 9.418% of the total variance and named client factor, has five loading variables with scores within the range ≥0.592≤0.784. notable variables loaded under this component factor include unwillingness to pay for professional services, clients' inability to identify professionals and unwillingness to seek professional advice and consultation. these variables are related to the bidding of clients. the results obtained agree with nnadi and alintah-abel (2016); jimoh et al. (2016), who confirmed unwillingness to pay for professional services and j.o. dada and g.o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 35 difficulty of clients to identify the professionals as factors causing quackery. the study confirms that these key variables need adequate consideration in mitigating the quackery of quantity surveying practices. the quantity surveying professional association and regulatory body must make a concerted effort to advocate and showcase the profession. the issue of remuneration for service rendered should also be examined. factor 3: job security-related factor the third factor was job security-related factors that accounted for 7.385% of the observed variance, with five loading variables with loading scores ranged between ≥0.545 and 0.661. notable among the variables that loaded under this component factor were: lack of transparency by the professional association and regulatory body, job insecurity, and socio-economic challenge. a stable political environment that promotes job security, adequate legislation to protect services being rendered, and a supportive, vibrant economy where jobs are readily available will seriously limit the involvement of quacks in quantity surveying practice. on the other hand, competition, unavailability of alternative jobs and high demand for quantity surveying services could be why other professionals dabble into quantity surveying practice. therefore, job security and the social needs of professionals should be taken seriously for more proficient service. factor 4: regulatory factor factor four accounted for 6.742% of the observed variance, with four loading variables having loading scores in the range of ≥0.516≤0.707. variables loaded under this factor were: inadequate monitoring and weaknesses in investigative structures (of "who is who" in the professional practice) by the qs professional association and regulatory body (niqs and qsrbn). for quackery of quantity surveying practices to be exterminated, the support of the professional regulatory body is highly vital to develop strong investigative structures, legal and regulatory framework to curtail quackery (pheng and ming, 1997). the ideology and operations of the professional regulatory body will enhance and maintain the functionality of quantity surveying practices. these results agree with the opinion of njoroge (2013) that lack of effective regulatory framework, harmonisation and coordination causes quackery in a profession. activities of the professional association and regulatory bodies are very crucial to the growth of a profession. regulations provide a basis for the enforcement of good professional practice (opaleye and talukhaba, 2014). regulatory bodies are forces that help curb quackery and create effective firms and competent professionals (geroski, mata and portugal, 2007). the findings of this study, in this regard, were in harmony with njoroge (2013) and ede (2011) that lack of an effective regulatory framework of quantity surveying activities and priority by the professional regulatory bodies to check professionals operating illicitly (without a license) are factors causing quackery. factor 5: corruption related factor the fifth factor accounted for 6.084% of the observed variance, with three loading variables having loading scores that ranged 0.579≤0.832. variables loaded under this factor were: excessive love for money/greed, politics in the award of contract/godfatherism and societal corruption. as postulated by inuwa, usman and dantong (2014) and hogarth-scott and owusu (2007), corruption, inefficient legal system, and lack of transparency in contract awards promote institutional quackery. 7. conclusion and recommendations this paper examined the causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice in lagos state, nigeria, based on an explorative survey of quantity surveying practitioners. among the thirty-four causal variables investigated, the survey showed thirty-two of them as important. the topmost of these are: “unwillingness to seek for professional advice and consultation”, “unwillingness to pay for professional services”, “lack of effective systems of punishment for quacks”, “inadequate monitoring by the quantity surveying professional association and regulatory body (niqs and qsrbn)”, “politics in award of contract/god fatherism”, “weaknesses of legal and regulatory framework”, and “societal corruption”. from the initially identified causes, factor analysis was used to determine the underlying principal grouping of the causal variables. the findings revealed that the causes of quackery in quantity surveying practice are multidimensional. these are unethical practices, client factor, job security factor, regulatory issue and corruption-related issues. the identified causes of quackery in the quantity surveying profession can help in policy formulation and serve as a base for future research towards eradicating the challenge of quackery in the profession. by dealing with quackery, quantity surveying professional service delivery will be enhanced, which promotes an improved construction project delivery. therefore, there is a need to reposition the profession by ensuring that quacks and non-professionals do not bastardise it. in this regard, a lot has to be done in guarding against the activities of quacks in the profession. the outcome of the study calls for far-reaching actions to be taken. thus, the following recommendations are proffered. it is crucial that licensed professionals and established professional governing bodies maintain the forefront in proactively blowing the whistle against unethical practices in the profession on the unethical practice issue. there should also be effective systems in the implementation of disciplinary action against unethical conduct by professional members. furthermore, there is a need for continuous sensitisation and education of the general public about the quantity surveying profession and services rendered and the future benefits on the client issue. finally, regarding clients' inability to identify the right and authentic professionals, there is a need to publish a regularly updated database of practising quantity surveyors continuously. for job security, there is a need to develop a structure distinguishing the roles and functions of quantity surveyors, which could guard against function overlap among the professionals in the construction industry. furthermore, the issue of underpayment for service rendered should be examined. in all this, the issue of regulation cannot be overemphasised. as such, the development of the regulatory framework and a good 36 j. o. dada and g. o. bamigboye /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).28-37 implementation plan by the professional association and regulatory body (niqs and qsrbn) will play a significant role in curbing the activities of quacks. lastly, the anti-corruption crusade in 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(1998). effects of variable and subject sampling on factor pattern recovery, psychological methods, 3(2), 231–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989x.3.2.231 http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ http://www.thetidenewsonline.com/.../we'll-check-quacks-in-property-market-–niesv-boss/ https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/1082-989x.3.2.231 jcbm (2018) 2(1). 10-19 subcontracting systems and social protection in the informal building construction industry in lagos, nigeria o. a. olusanya 1 department of employment relations and human resource management, university of lagos, nigeria1 received 28 april 2017; received in revised form 19 june 2017; accepted 3 july 2017 abstract subcontracting systems are entrenched in the building construction process in nigeria. however, the implications for informal building construction industry workers' access to social protection measures are a cause for concern. this study examined the influence of subcontracting systems on access to social protection measures by workers in the informal building construction industry in lagos, nigeria, based on a cross-sectional research design, agency theory and the general theory of employment. the secondary and primary data used for the study were derived from a systematic review of relevant literature, a questionnaire administered to 908 respondents and 50 key informant interviews among informal building construction workers and subcontractors. the structured questionnaire was subjected to internal and external validity; the cronbach's alpha reliability test of the survey stood at 0.722. data extracted from the structured questionnaire and interviews were analysed through the use of descriptive statistics, correlational analysis and narrative analysis. findings revealed that workers got financial and health assistance from employers and government respectively. results also show that informal building construction workers perceived provision of social protection as inadequate. the results of pearson correlation indicate that subcontracting systems have an inverse and statistically significant relationship with access to free or subsidised medical care, the remedy to accident on site and pattern of savings. therefore, subcontracting systems influenced the availability of social protection measures significantly. based on the findings and the important roles of subcontractors in the building construction industry, it is recommended that appropriate legislative instrument should be developed to address the challenges posed by subcontracting concerning access to social protection measures in the informal building construction industry. it is also suggested that steps should be taken by the government to promote formalisation of employment in the informal sector and support community-based social insurance schemes in nigeria. keywords: building construction, informal economy, lagos, social protection, subcontracting systems. 1. introduction subcontracting systems are entrenched in the building construction process in nigeria. the prevalence of subcontracting systems in the building construction industry has been referenced as a coping mechanism against uncertainties associated with the availability of resources, as well as site and climatic conditions (usdiken, sozen, & enbiyaoglu, 1988: 633). subcontracting systems facilitate the engagement of subcontractors, who sometimes operate in the informal economy. informality in employment in the building construction industry is observable in most developing countries (wells, 2007: 91). the informal sector is the term used to describe informal employment within and 1 corresponding author. tel: +2348037188153 email address: oaolusanya@unilag.edu.ng outside of formal organisations covering informal selfemployment and informal wage employment (chen, vanek & heintz 2006: 2132). studies have shown that research on employment in developing countries would be inadequate unless necessary attention is given to the informal economy due to increased economic activities in the sector (heintz & valodia, 2008: 11-12; tanzi, 1999: 338). in this connection, the rate of employment generation in the nigerian informal economy is estimated at between 45% and 60% of the urban labour force (adejumo & azuh, 2013: 10). as at the last quarter of 2015 and the first three months of 2016, 61,026 informal sector jobs were generated in contrast with 21,477 formal sector employment in nigeria (national bureau of statistics, university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:oaolusanya@unilag.edu.ng o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 11 2016: 3). this statistic shows that more jobs are produced in the informal sector, suggesting that the sector should be a major target for social protection measures. the goal of social protection measures is to ensure stable income to workers, alleviate poverty and risks associated with poverty (barrientos & hulme, 2008: 2; ilo, 2000: 2). moreover, social protection is believed to have contributed significantly to poverty reduction in developed and developing countries in the last 50 years (ilo, 2000: 2). nevertheless, workers in the informal economy are more susceptible to inadequacies in employment than those in the formal sector, particularly because the former is unregulated (akinwale, 2014: 118; wamuthenya, 2010: 18). the combination of subcontracting systems, with its attendant challenges for workers as well as short attention to the provision of social protection measures for informal workers in nigeria, has necessitated this present study. besides, canagarajah and sethuraman (2001: 22) suggested that provision of social security for informal workers is challenged by risks associated with the status of informality in employment. therefore, the test of effectiveness and improvement of social protection can only be done by studying those who do not seem to benefit from the programme. in the light of the above, the objective of this study is to assess the relationship between subcontracting systems and access of informal building construction industry workers to social protection measures in lagos state, nigeria. the study will answer three questions: (1) how do subcontracting systems relate to social protection measures in the informal building construction industry? (2) what types of assistance and benefits do informal building construction workers receive from the government? (3) what are the kinds of assistance provided by employers for informal building construction workers? the answers to these questions would provide insight into the nature of interventions required for social protection in the building construction industry. the paper is divided into six major sections: section one deals with the introduction, section two addresses theoretical framework, relevant literature on subcontracting systems and social protection, section three covers methods, section four treats results and discussions, section five treats conclusion and recommendation, and limitations of the study are discussed in section six. 2. review of relevant literature 2.1 theoretical framework this study examines the relationship between sub contracting systems and availability of social protection measures in the informal building construction industry within the ambits of agency theory and the general theory of employment. 2.2 agency theory agency theory originated from studies by wilson (1968) and arrow (1971) on the risk and challenge of differing disposition to risk sharing in work requiring some level of cooperation (eisenhardt, 1989: 58). agency theory offers explanation for the type of relationship where one party (the principal) delegates work to another (the agent) who possesses specialised knowledge/skills; and performs work on behalf of the principal (jensen & meckling, 1976: 309; eisenhardt, 1989: 59; boland, golden & tsoodle, 2008: 624; cohen & baruch, 2010: 187). in this connection, agency theory can be utilised in the analysis of the conflict between principal and agent due to differing goals or desires and for the challenges associated with the disposition to risks. thus, agency theory is useful in the analysis of principal-agent relations, which describes what a building construction contractor or project owner is to a worker or subcontractor respectively. kallay (2012: 44) loosely defined agency theory as an interconnection of contracts between resource holders. as such, the nature and character of the agency relationship are defined by contracts. the implication of this is that if an employment contract does not provide for workers to access social protection or any other benefit, then employees may not be able to access whatever is not specified in a contract. agency relationships are characterised by conflicting goals between the principal and the agent, on the one hand, and the existence of asymmetric information, which makes monitoring and verification between the principal and agent difficult (jensen & meckling, 1976: 311; eisenhardt, 1989: 58). therefore, the challenge of differing aims of parties to agency relationships, further aggravated by a gap in communication, may make concerns for social protection receive less attention in the context of subcontracting systems. the informality of employment in the building construction industry, which may account for the state of social protection measures in the sector is not covered by agency theory, and this necessitates the introduction of the general theory of employment into this discussion. 2.3 the general theory of employment the general theory of employment is associated with john maynard keynes, author of general theory of employment, interest and money (1936). deduced from keynes' main argument is the fact that employment is not always full and permanent. this is a departure from the ideas put forward by classical economists, such as say (1834), ricardo (1817, 1971), mill (1808, 1844, 1848), marshall (1890) and pigou (1912, 1944). the classical theory of employment believes that people work if their pay is worth the effort on the job in the labour market. the classical economists argue that when the demand and supply of labour become equal, an economy will inevitably tend toward full employment (gasset, n.d: 197). full employment is when everyone who wishes to work is employed at a particular wage. however, one case of employment that is not full is known as non-standard employment. the non-standard employment situation is employment that is not continuous and full-time; without a contract specifying the duration of employment; without regular hours of work and associated benefits besides pay (okafor, 2012: 103; simons & lake, 2005: 4). the shortterm engagement of workers due to the nature of building construction work is often the rationale for adopting subcontract systems which invariably limits the obligations of contractors or whoever is the principal to workers. therefore, keynes’ general theory of 12 o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 employment advocates legislative intervention, which could translate into social protection programmes. the argument of the classical economists suggests that there is no chance that individuals may be involuntarily unemployed because they simply cannot find work even though they are willing to work at the prevailing wage. in this connection, the general theory of employment recommends that people must be ready to work for less pay. this recommendation may imply that involving subcontractors in the value chain of a business endeavour may force people to work for less and limit their access to social protection measures. 2.4 subcontracting systems in the building construction industry subcontracting is the means by which individuals or firms purchase part of a product or process to optimise limited resources (ajayi, 2007: 149; kimura, 2002: 163). subcontracting involves subletting the execution of a section or sections of a project to a contractor or contractors who specialise in specific aspects of the project (manu, ankrah, proverbs, suresh & adukpo, 2011: 736). subcontracting systems have been described as an efficient risk-sharing mechanism, as individuals or organisations that choose to subcontract do so after weighing various options (atamturk & hochbaum, 2001: 1081; kimura, 2002: 166). it may be argued that subcontracting help firms to concentrate on core competencies. subcontracting systems and subcontractors have an important place in the construction industry (azari-rad, philips & thompson-dawson 2014: 242; enshassi, choudhry, mayer & shoman, 2008: 52). the fragmented and specialised nature of construction work necessitates the engagement of different skills required at various times in the building process (ilo, 2001: 24). as such, subcontractors supply the necessary expertise and workers for construction work in the building construction process. it has been argued that subcontracting in the construction industry serves as a buffer against risk, helps to reduce operating costs, secure competitive advantage and position for maximum profit (aronson & zionts, 2008: 232; ohnuma, pereira & cardoso, 2000: 2; tanaka, 2012: 97). this offers some insight into the appeal of subcontracting systems for principals. subcontracting in the production sector in nigeria commenced in the 1960s (ajayi, 2007: 149). subcontracting has been found to thrive in the nigerian building construction industry, and some studies have examined its relevance in the industry. adenuga (2013: 336) assessed how subcontractors affect quality in the delivery of construction projects; ogunsanmi (2015: 64) examined subcontractor control in labour subcontracting and direct labour systems and found that there is less risk of premature delivery of the project in labour-only subcontracting. furthermore, fagbenle and adesanya (2014: 300) examined the relationship between registration and performance of subcontractors and concluded that registration with the federal registration board has no relevance to subcontractor performance and that registration is not a prerequisite for engagement. however, loh and ofori (2000) cited in fagbenle and adesanya (2014: 297) determined that in singapore the registration of subcontractors would improve the welfare of workers. the focus and outcomes of these studies show that available studies on subcontracting systems in the nigerian building construction industry do not provide adequate information about the relationship between subcontracting systems and social protection in the industry. 2.5 social protection in nigeria social protection, in the contemporary sense, has been noticeable since the 19th century, a time characterised by the commodification of labour, which exposed labour to new risks associated with mobility and wage flexibility (canagarajah & sethuraman, 2001: 2, 4). social protection in the african setting is entrenched in the informal systems characterised by mutual support in the family networks and charities (iiiffe, 1987: 178). social protection programmes in nigeria such as the provident funds and the children fund were responsible for the development, rehabilitation and feeding programmes especially following the biafran war of 1967 to 1970 (iiiffe, 1987: 258). kabeer, cook, chopra and ainsworth (2010: 29) suggested that studies on social protection in developing countries should centre on the extension of social citizenship to some excluded social groups. this is because the test of effectiveness and improvement of social protection can only be done by studying those who do not benefit from the programme. this assertion reinforces the contribution of this study to knowledge on the subject of social protection in the informal building construction industry in lagos nigeria. besides, social protection is a sustainable means by which social justice can be provided for marginalised social groups and promote social inclusion and accountability (jones & shahrokh, 2013: 10). in this connection, canagarajah and sethuraman (2001: 16) recommended that, in developing countries, social protection for workers in the informal industry must address risks, such as fall in income and risks associated with the status of the informality of employment. nevertheless, it has been argued that the only means by which informal workers can access social protection is to organise (lund & nicholson 2006: 5; olusanya, 2014: 1). gonzales and gregorio-manasan (2002: 171) observe that social protection is well defined in the formal industry. in the nigerian context, nwabueze (1989: 2) observe that social protection has been neglected and is a pointer to distortion in national priorities. thus, the issue of social protection is yet to receive adequate attention in the informal building construction industry in nigeria. 2.6 social protection in the context of informal economy and subcontracting systems subcontracting offers employers the opportunity to hire workers on a temporary basis thereby giving employers some flexibility on the determination of terms and conditions of employment. li and peng, (2006: 2) argue that there is a weakening of workers protection once there are large numbers of informal workers. similarly, canagarajah and sethuraman (2001: 3) maintain that increased poverty as well as informalisation in labour o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 13 markets, is threatening the provision of social protection in most countries, and that, despite best efforts, social protection is still inadequate in nigeria. this is also the position of holmes, akinrimisi, morgan, and buck (2011: 1, 2012: vi; umukoro, 2013: 305). in this connection, hagen-zanker and holmes (2012: vi-vii) explains that: nigeria currently spends less on social protection than many other african countries, despite its relative wealth. social protection represented about 1.4% of consolidated government expenditure in 2009, compared with kenya's spending of 6.2% of public expenditure in 2007/08. moreover, two-thirds of this is allocated to civil servant pension and benefit schemes. social protection is not seen as a top priority for the federal government, as reflected by the limited funding available for it. some states are demonstrating interest and allocating resources to propoor social spending, in general, and, social protection, in particular (e.g., jigawa state) (hagen-zanker & holmes, 2012: vi-vii). this assertion means that addressing the problem of inadequate investment in social protection would require an overarching policy framework, which would serve as clear guides on the roles of federal, and state governments in the design and implementation of social protection programmes. also, it is suggested that the role of the local government councils should be articulated, as they are more likely to be more active in these spheres. furthermore, li and peng (2006: 3) showed that the framework for social protection must take into account both work and status related risks, noting that the labour subcontracting systems, even though it plays a pivotal role in the supply of labour, also contributes to the high risks workers face, specifically in the construction industry. this myriad of challenges particularly in a situation where there is no contract of employment has been highlighted as follows: trust, without a contract, makes it difficult to be sure workers will be paid on time, or at all, or have any chance of compensation for damages. it is also related to persistent unemployment, which, in turn, affects the ability of workers to file complaints and be effectively protected. jobs in construction also bring along high risks of injuries, especially when health and safety standards are not met. regarding claiming unpaid salaries, the labour subcontractor systems also creates difficulties for those trying to implement policies to improve worker securities. many researchers called for more creative methods to protect the workers. however, as shown in this research, the problems faced by these workers result from the organisation of the industry (li & peng, 2006: 15). this narrative shows that unemployment affects the willingness of workers to protest hostile working conditions. li and peng (2006: 17) cautioned, however, that this myriad of problems, particularly those that confronted rural construction workers in chinese cities could not be solved with a rapid top-down policy, due to the complex interaction between social policies, industrial organisation and the process of rapid urbanisation. however, eme and ugwu (2011: 2) have noted that the nigerian pension reform act (2004) translates into improved social security planning for retired workers and their families to achieve a degree of economic security. nevertheless, the pension reform act (2014) introduced changes, such as: increase in the minimum number of employees required to make contributions under the act, increase in the minimum contribution into the scheme and the imposition of fines and penalties on pension fund administrators (pfas) for failure to meet their obligations to contributors as well as violation of the provisions of the act (price waterhouse coopers 2014: 1). these additional requirements should facilitate the inclusion of the excluded, but the key to success will lie in ensuring compliance from all the parties involved. 3. methods the research design adopted for this study was a crosssectional research design while the strategy employed was survey design. the cross-sectional design was adopted to observe the study population at a point in time (levin, 2006: 24). this study was conducted in lagos state, nigeria, which has a population of about 21 million (lagos state government, 2017). lagos state is divided into 37 local development areas, 20 local government areas and 5 administrative divisions, namely: ikeja, lagos, ikorodu, badagry and epe (lagos state government, 2017; oteri & ayeni, 2016: 2). the concentration of economic activities, large population and the resulting demand for building construction in lagos state makes the city suitable for this study. the population of this study comprised workers drawn from building construction sites, which possessed an approved building plan in lagos state. it was necessary to use sites with approved building plans because as at the time this study commenced, the total number of building construction workers in lagos state could not be ascertained. these approved building plans therefore provided information on active sites in lagos where workers could be found. the records of approved building plans between 2007 and 2013 were retrieved from the lagos state physical planning permit authority. the period 2007 through 2013 relates only to data for building construction sites considered as sample frame of the study and not the time when workers were observed. the population were informal workers artisans, including carpenters, blocklayers, iron-benders, welders, labourers, machine operators, electricians, plumbers, plasterers, painters and tilers. table 1 shows approved building plans between 2007 and 2013 across 20 local government areas. the study adopted yamane’s (1967) formula for sample size determination, which was adapted as follows: 𝑛 = 𝑁 1 + 𝑁(𝑒2) (1) where: n = sample size n = population e = sampling error 14 o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 table 1: number of building plan approvals in lagos state: 2007-2013 s/n local government areas number of planning approvals 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 total 1 agbado/ipaja 36 8 19 30 37 51 42 223 2 agege 117 16 31 88 173 160 130 715 3 alimosho 148 14 41 72 74 75 83 507 4 amuwo-odofin 187 32 112 137 133 112 70 783 5 apapa 25 6 6 14 13 9 16 89 6 badagry 16 4 2 8 5 nil nil 35 7 eko 17 4 9 17 25 22 7 101 8 epe 120 4 2 5 1 4 2 138 9 eti-osa 705 384 403 554 394 407 395 3242 10 ibeju-lekki 8 1 5 4 7 25 38 88 11 ikeja 139 61 105 122 120 110 213 870 12 ikoyi/victoria island 350 75 95 147 166 163 135 1131 13 ikorodu 846 142 31 55 278 164 149 1665 14 kosofe 374 167 302 293 180 184 142 1642 15 mushin 55 15 21 16 25 33 33 198 16 oshodi-isolo 316 42 85 108 146 85 78 860 17 ojo 58 4 15 17 31 21 22 168 18 somolu 97 15 38 39 28 52 37 306 19 surulere 46 28 39 40 50 47 35 285 20 yaba 62 35 60 85 63 38 42 385 total 3722 1057 1421 1851 1949 1762 1669 13431 the selection of 388 building construction sites from 13,431 obtained with the use of yamane’s (1967) formula provided a basis for identification of the eligible members of the study population. probability sampling technique was adopted in the process of selecting the sample size for this study to afford each unit of the population equal chance of being selected (kelley, clark, brown, & sitzia, 2003: 264). thus, the probability sampling techniques adopted in the process of selecting the sample size for this study comprised the stratified and simple random techniques. the stratified sampling technique was used to select sites from five administrative divisions while the simple random sampling technique was used to select respondents from the sites. the research respondents comprised ten percent of workers on 388 building construction sites in lagos state, nigeria. therefore, 388 sites produced 908 respondents as shown in table 2. table 2: sample size by administrative division s/n administrative division no of sites sample size 1 ikeja 152 309 2 lagos 152 264 3 badagry 29 116 4 ikorodu 48 191 5 epe 7 28 total 388 908 the structured questionnaire was utilised to elicit quantitative data from 908 respondents, while key informant interviews (kiis) were conducted for 50 subcontractors across five administrative divisions in lagos state, nigeria. quantitative data collected were examined, coded, entered and analysed using spss version 20.1. the nature of data gathered through the questionnaire dictated that descriptive and inferential statistics be employed in the analysis. descriptive tools used included frequency distribution tables and simple percentages. also, correlation analysis was used to test the hypothesis formulated. also, content and narrative analyses were employed in the analysis of qualitative data. the tools find relevance in qualitative research data or open-ended questions and have been combined to deepen the analysis in this study. 4. results and discussions 4.1 socio-economic and demographic characteristics of building construction workers the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the respondents on building construction sites in lagos state, nigeria are displayed in table 3. the data shows that 94.4 percent of the respondents were male; indicating that the building construction is a male dominated industry and may be linked to the physical requirements of jobs in the industry (jacka, 1997: 22). the data also shows that 28.6 percent of the respondents were bricklayers, which indicates that bricklayers are required in large numbers throughout the building construction process. also, a limited number of machine operators are needed (3.3 percent). therefore, the skilled labour demand is associated with nature of service provided. over half of the workers (58.7) were married, a pointer to a possible sense of responsibility requiring that they continue to work to earn a living to support their families. a majority of the respondents (60.4 percent) had secondary school education, which makes them eligible to take on other jobs in which they may be interested. a majority of the respondents were from the southern states (84.6 percent). indigenes from the northern states o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 15 constitute 12.4 percent, while 3.0 percent originated from neighbouring countries such as benin republic, cotonou, ghana and togo. these results from the study conducted in lagos state, reveals that most building construction workers stayed and found work around or in their states of origin. this suggests that provision of social protection measures by state governments may be an incentive for workers to continue to seek employment in their states of origin. besides, this would not only benefit the workers, but it would also contribute to economic activities in the state. table 3: demographic characteristics of building construction workers variable % sex male (n = 857) female (n = 51) 94.4 5.6 highest level of education primary school (n = 241) secondary school (n = 548) technical college (n = 72) no education (n = 47) 26.5 60.4 7.9 5.2 nature of work on site carpentry (n = 108) bricklaying (n = 260) iron bending (n = 78) aluminium works (n = 61) p.o.p (n = 68) plumber (n = 49) electrician (n = 46) machine operator (n = 30) labourers (n = 208) 11.9 28.6 8.6 6.7 7.5 5.4 5.1 3.3 22.9 marital status single (f = 353) married (f = 533) divorced/separated/widowed (f = 22) 38.9 58.7 2.4 state of origin north-central (103) north-east (2) north-west (8) south-east (88) south-south (89) south-west (591) foreign nationals (27) 11.3 0.2 0.9 9.7 9.8 65.1 3.0 4.2 subcontracting systems in the building construction industry table 4 shows the profile of subcontracting systems in the building construction industry. the data shows that the subcontractor hired almost half of the workers (44.6 percent), indicating that subcontractors are employers of labour the building construction industry in lagos state. a majority of the respondents (89.1 percent) affirmed that their hirer was their employer, revealing that workers were directly responsible to the employers, who control and direct the worker in line with oral, written or implied a contract for work and is obligated to pay wages for work done on site. the distinction between ‘hirer’ and ‘employer’ was necessary to determine whether subcontractors on building construction sites merely supplied labour to the users or engaged workers to execute their subcontract on the sites. also, the responsibility for quality control and timely delivery of work on site were attributed to the subcontractor and contractor by 40.0 percent and 38.2 percent of the respondents respectively. similarly, 46.5 percent got their wage from the subcontractor. thus, the responsibility for quality assurance and collection of wage from the subcontractor confirms the important roles of subcontractors in the building construction industry. table 4: subcontracting systems in building construction industry variable % hirer subcontractor (n = 405) contractor (n = 326) owner (n = 135) other (n = 42) 44.6 35.9 14.9 4.6 hirer same as employer yes (n = 809) no (n = 99) 89.1 10.9 responsibility for quality control subcontractor (n = 363) contractor (n = 317) owner (n = 128) other (n = 100) 40.0 34.9 14.1 11.0 responsibility for timely delivery of work subcontractor (n = 347) contractor (n = 316) owner (n = 137) other (n = 108) 38.2 34.8 15.1 11.9 source of wage subcontractor (n = 422) contractor (n = 320) owner (n = 128) other (n = 38) 46.5 35.2 14.1 4.2 4.3 social protection in the building construction industry table 5 reveals variables associated with social protection in the building construction industry. it covers the proportion of building construction workers who enjoyed social protection, including assistance from government and employer. the findings reveal that a significant percentage of the workers (97.9 percent) did not receive any assistance from the government. similarly, 91.4 percent stated that they did not receive assistance from their employers while 86.9 percent indicated that they did not have access to free or subsidised health care services. however, self/home treatment is very popular with the workers (48.1 percent) also, the proportion of workers who patronised private hospitals (31.3 percent) was higher than those who visited government hospitals (16.7 percent). since workers seldom patronised public hospitals, they hardly benefited from subsidised medical services available. conversely, it is not clear if services provided by government hospitals is sufficient to cater to the needs of the large population of workers in the informal sector. 16 o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 furthermore, the data reveals that 11.2 percent of the workers had no savings; the majority (37 percent) saved daily; 29.4 percent saved weekly, while 22.4 percent saved monthly. nevertheless, the pattern of savings is a function of earnings (keynes, 1936). these findings demonstrate the deficit in social protection in the informal building construction industry in nigeria. however, some respondents acknowledged to receiving free eye check-ups from non-governmental organisations (ngos) and some assistance from the government, including food items at the local government, free eye test, free medical care, free mosquito nets and donation of basic equipment by members of the legislative arm of government representing a particular locality. the assistance from local government councils and legislators are usually funded through allocations from the federal government. also, respondents also acknowledged the role of the nigerian labour congress in the fight for an increase in pay and improvement of working conditions in the building construction industry. despite all these provisions by the government, the reason why the majority of the workers felt that they did not receive any assistance from government may be that their expectations were at variance with the provisions by the government. table 5: social protection experience in the building construction industry variable % government assistance yes (n = 20) no (n = 888) 2.1 97.9 employers’ assistance yes (n = 78) no (n = 830) 8.6 91.4 access to free or subsidised medical care yes (n = 119) no (n = 789) 13.1 86.9 remedy to accident on site self/home treatment (n = 437) government hospital (n = 152) private hospital (n = 2847) other (n = 35) 48.1 16.7 31.3 3.9 pattern of savings none (n = 102) daily (n = 336) weekly (n = 267) monthly (n = 203) 11.2 37.0 29.4 22.4 findings also reveal that employers/subcontractors in the building construction industry sometimes gave assistance, such as the following to their workers: useful advice, accommodation, feeding, bonus for job well done, cash (apart from salary), cash for medical care, supply of equipment and materials for the work, supply of mobile phones, end-of-year bonuses; occasional provision of transportation after work; help to secure other jobs; provision of tips and stipends/pocket money when payment is delayed; payment of children's school fees and other incentives and gifts on special occasions, e.g., birthdays, child-naming, burial of relatives, etc. however, only a small percentage of the workers (8.6 percent) attested to receiving these forms of assistance from their employers. this finding further suggests that a majority of informal building construction workers have no access to social protection and that only a small number of employers offer their employees some help. the results on the profile of social protection coverage in the building construction industry provide evidence for wells' (2006:10) assertion that construction workers in the developing world have neither guarantee of permanent employment nor protection against periods of unemployment, sickness or provision for old age. evidence from subcontractor interviews in table 6 shows the forms of assistance provided for building construction workers. the most common form of aid (46 percent) was funding to procure health care services. some of the interviewees (20 percent) stated that they assisted when workers requested it, whereas 18 percent affirmed that they assisted workers with a right attitude to work. some other subcontractors (6 percent) noted that they facilitated payment for their employees' accommodation and property acquisition. however, 10 percent indicated that they did not assist their workers. these findings suggest that decisions on forms of aid provided to workers were largely at the discretion of employers. therefore, it is highly unrealistic to leave this critical decision area to private employers because it is a license for exploitation of workers, which means that public policy has a major role to play in this regard. table 6: forms of assistance provided to workers themes % support on request (n = 10) 20 facilitating accommodation (n = 2) 4 property acquisition (n = 1) 2 selective support for workers with good attitude (n = 9) 18 financial and health assistance (n = 23) 46 no assistance (n = 5) 10 total 100 4.4 test of hypothesis to test the hypothesis, which states that there is no significant relationship between subcontracting systems and availability of social protection measures in the building construction industry, correlation analysis was carried out. the results in table 8 indicate that there is an inverse and significant relationship between hirer and access to free or subsidised medical care (r = -.184; p = 0.000); between situations where hirer is same as employer and pattern of savings (r = -.138; p = 0.000); between responsibility for quality control and pattern of savings (r = -.144; p = 0.000); between responsibility for timely delivery of work and access to free or subsidised medical care (r = -.105; p = 0.000), as well as pattern of savings r = -.183; p = 0.000); between source of wage and access to free or subsidised medical care r = -.199; p = 0.000). these results suggest that subcontracting systems have an inverse and statistically significant relationship with access to free or subsidised medical care, the remedy to accident on site and pattern of savings. these results o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 17 align with findings of previous studies that attest to a weakening of social protection where subcontracting meets informal workers (canagarajah & sethuraman, 2001: 3; li & peng, 2006: 2). table 8: relationship between subcontracting systems and availability of social protection measures in the building construction industry variables government assistance employers’ assistance access to free or subsidised medical care remedy to accident on site pattern of savings welfare pearson correlation sig. (2-tailed) n .010 .765 908 -.046 .169 908 -.184** .000 908 -.065 .051 908 -.015 .655 908 hirer same as employer pearson correlation sig. (2-tailed) n .051 .124 908 .069* .037 908 .125** .000 908 .117** .000 908 -.138** .000 908 responsibility for quality control pearson correlation sig. (2-tailed) n .041 .218 908 -.040 .232 908 -.078* .019 908 -.016 .624 908 -.144** .000 908 responsibility for timely delivery of work pearson correlation sig. (2-tailed) n .062 .061 908 -.053 .112 908 -.105** .002 908 -.027 .425 908 -.183** .000 908 source of wage pearson correlation sig. (2-tailed) n .005 .878 908 -.054 .101 908 -.199** .000 908 -.062 .063 908 -.003 .937 908 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). 5. conclusions and recommendation this study assessed the relationship between subcontracting systems and access of informal building construction industry workers to social protection measures in lagos state, nigeria. the study determined the types of assistance and benefits informal building construction workers receive from government as well as the kinds of assistance provided by employers for informal building construction workers. this study has established that the prevalence of subcontracting systems in the building construction industry limits workers access to social protection measures. although quantitative data showed that employees did not receive welfare benefits from government or their employers, qualitative data revealed that workers enjoyed some social benefits from government and their employers. the workers, however, noted that these benefits were inadequate. these benefits include subsidised medical services, accommodation, feeding, the supply of mobile phones, end of year bonuses, and so forth. in the light of the conclusions of this study, it is suggested that the building construction industry in lagos state must not be left to ‘self-regulate’. therefore, an appropriate legislative instrument should be developed to address the challenges posed by subcontracting systems about access to social protection measures in the informal building construction industry. this is necessary given that the nature of construction works dictate the engagement of subcontractors. also, the government, particularly at the local levels should promote and support community-based social insurance schemes for informal sector workers. the inability of the researcher to ascertain the total number of informal building construction workers posed a limitation for the study and made the process of data gathering very tedious. however, this limitation afforded the opportunity for this study to provide a basis for the estimation of the number of informal building construction workers in lagos state, which should be useful to future researchers. furthermore, the number of workers on site at the time data was gathered determined the sample from each location. the researcher visited the sites on days when workers worked in large numbers on site. considering that this study is limited to lagos state, it is suggested that future research should cover the major geopolitical zones in nigeria for a more robust evidence and conclusion. references adejumo, g. o. and azuh, d. 2013. patterns of workplace violence among women in informal sector in south west, nigeria. international journal of social sciences and humanities reviews, 4(1): 9-13. adenuga, o. a. 2013. factors affecting quality in the delivery of public housing projects in lagos state, 18 o. a. olusanya / journal of construction business and management (2018) 2(1). 10-19 nigeria. international journal of engineering and technology (ijet), 3(3):332-344. ajayi, d. d. 2007. recent trends and patterns in nigeria’s industrial development. africa development, xxxii (2):139–155. akinwale, a.a. 2014. precarious working conditions and exploitation of workers in the nigerian informal economy. social science diliman, 10(1):117-146. aronson, j. e. and zionts, s. ed. 2008. operations research: methods, models and applications. usa: quorum books. arrow, k.j. 1971. essays in the theory of risk bearing. chicago: markham publishing company. atamturk, a. and hochbaum, d. s. 2001. capacity acquisition, subcontracting, and lot sizing. management science, 47(8):1081-1100. azari-rad, h. philips, p. and thompson-dawson, w. 2014. subcontracting and injury rates in construction. employment relationships in construction, 240-247. 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nairobi: african economic research consortium. wells, j. 2007. informality in the construction sector in developing countries. construction management and economics, 25: 87-93. 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cost overruns; construction waste; material waste. 1. introduction the construction industry remained one of the driving forces behind the socio-economic development of any nation. however, it is faced with severe problems of cost overruns and construction waste (abdul-rahman et al., 2013; osmani et al., 2008; nagapan et al., 2012a; saidu and shakantu, 2016a). material wastage has become a serious problem, which requires urgent attention in the construction industry (adewuyi and otali, 2013). the majority of this waste has not been well managed, thus causing substantial health and environmental problems (imam et al., 2008), and affecting the performance of many projects (adewuyi and otali, 2013; ameh and itodo, 2013; oladiran, 2009; saidu and shakantu, 2016b). this problem is disclosed by various authors reporting on the situation, for instance, 28.34% of the total waste sent 1 corresponding author. +27810916224. email address: s214344924@nmmu.ac.za 2email address: winston.shakantu@nmmu.ac.za 3email address: ninadzi@futminna.edu.ng 4email address: saidu.ibr@futminna.edu.ng to landfills in malaysia originates from construction activities (begum et al., 2007); the us generates 164million tonne of construction waste annually representing 30-40% of the country’s municipal solid waste (msw) (osmani, 2011); china alone generates 30% of the world’s msw, out of which construction and demolition waste represents 40% of the country’s msw (lu and yuan, 2010); 10% of the materials delivered to sites in the united kingdom (uk) construction industry end up as waste that may not be accounted for (osmani, 2011); and ameh and itodo (2013) noted that for every 100 houses built, there is sufficient waste materials to build another 10 houses in nigeria. similarly, cost overrun is a common problem in both developed and developing countries (memon et al., 2013). university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm mailto:s214344924@nmmu.ac.za mailto:winston.shakantu@nmmu.ac.za mailto:ninadzi@futminna.edu.ng mailto:saidu.ibr@futminna.edu.ng 40 i. saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 for instance, 33.3% of construction project owners in the uk are faced with the problems of cost overrun (abdulrahman et al., 2013). cost overrun is associated with projects across twenty nations and five continents of the world (allahaim and liu, 2012; flyvbjerg et al., 2004). the argument on how to reduce or totally remove cost overruns from projects has been on-going among major stakeholders in the construction industry for the past seventy years (apolot et al., 2010; allahaim and liu, 2012), but there is neither substantial improvement nor significant solution in mitigating its detrimental effects (allahaim and liu, 2012); and it is logical to reason that on-site wastage of material leads to increase in the final cost of a building project because, as materials are wasted, more will be required, thereby affecting the estimated cost of the project (ameh and itodo, 2013). this is regardless of the 5% contingency allowance to cover material wastage in the bills of quantities in countries like nigeria. therefore, the problems of material waste and cost overrun are occasioned by several causes at different stages of projects. these include: the planning stage, estimating stage, design and design management stage, as well as the construction stage. identification of these causes at different stages and the application of relevant control measures to minimise their occurrence is a step towards alleviating the consequences (mou, 2008; oladiran, 2009; nagapan et al., 2012b; saidu and shakantu, 2015). ameh and itodo (2013) assert that most managers of construction projects pay little attention to the effects of material waste generated on cost overrun. many studies have been conducted in this field, for instance, tam et al. (2007) assessed the levels of material wastage affected by sub-contracting relationships and projects types with their correlations on construction site; ameh and itodo (2013) assessed professionals’ views of material wastage on construction sites and cost overruns. the study adopted a survey (questionnaire) research approach which is considered a subjective assessment. saidu and shakantu (2015) examined the relationship between quality of estimating, construction material waste generation and cost overruns in abuja, nigeria; saidu and shakantu (2016a) examined the relationship between material waste and cost overrun in the construction industry using literature based methodology and recommended further empirical investigations. moreover, saidu and shakantu (2016b) developed a framework and an equation for managing constructionmaterial waste and cost overruns but these are not empirically inclined. these therefore, provides the need for a research that provides a holistic assessment of the relationship between the causes of material waste and those of cost overrun at pre-contract and post-contract stage of a construction project. hence, this paper examines the relationship between the causes of material waste and those of cost overruns with a view to suggesting the possible ways of minimising their effects at the precontract and the post-contract stage of a project. to achieve this, the following objectives were formulated: to identify the material waste causes that have effects on cost overruns at pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project; and to determine material waste control measures that have effects in controlling cost overruns at the precontract and at the post contract stages of a project. 2. literature review 2.1 construction waste construction waste is a global challenge faced by construction practitioners. it can have a significant impact on time, cost, quality and sustainability (saidu, 2016). construction waste is generally classified into two, namely: the physical waste (the waste that could be physically seen and touched) and the non-physical waste (nagapan et al., 2012b). 2.1.1 physical construction waste physical construction waste is the waste from construction and renovation activities, including building and civil engineering works. it is however, referred by some directly as solid waste: the inert waste, which comprises mainly sand, bricks, blocks, steel, concrete debris, tiles, bamboo, plastics, glass, wood, paper, and other organic materials (nagapan et al., 2012b; ma, 2011; saidu and shakantu, 2016a). this type of waste could either be recovered through recycling or re-use of some of its constituents; or completely lost due to the fact that they may be irreparably damaged or simply stolen. the wastage is usually removed from the site to landfills (nagapan et al., 2012b; saidu and shakantu, 2015; saidu, 2016). 2.1.2 non-physical construction waste the non-physical waste normally occurs during the construction process. in contrast to the physical or material waste, non-physical waste relates to time overruns and cost overruns for construction projects (nagapan et al., 2012b; saidu, 2016). similarly, ma (2011) defines waste as not only associated with wastage of materials, but also to other activities such as delays due to repair, waiting time, among others. besides that, waste can be considered as any inefficiency that results in the use of equipment, materials, labour, and money in the construction process (ma, 2011). in other words, waste in construction is not only focused on the quantity of materials wasted on site, but also covers issues like overproduction, waiting time, material handling, inventories, and unnecessary movement of workers (nagapan et al., 2012a). 2.2 construction cost overrun cost overruns are part of the non-physical waste that have plagued construction projects for decades or even centuries (edward, 2009). cost overrun is also known as “cost increase” or “budget overrun”; and it involves unanticipated costs incurred in excess of the budgeted amounts (shanmugapriya and subramanian, 2013). it has also been referred to as the percentage of actual or final costs above the estimated or tender costs of the project (ubani et al., 2011; jenpanistub, 2011). azhar et al. (2008) view cost overrun simply as an occurrence, where the final or actual cost of a project surpasses the original or initial estimates. it is the actual or final costs, minus the estimated cost, divided by the estimated/tender costs of a i.saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 41 project expressed as a percentage (memon, 2013; ubani et al., 2011) this is represented mathematically: 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 = 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡−𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑋 100 (1) the actual costs are referred to as the real and accounted construction costs realised at the completion of a project; while the estimated costs are the budgeted, estimated or forecasted construction costs determined at the inception of projects after the actual design has been developed (ubani et al., 2011; memon, 2013). nega (2008) defines cost overrun as an occurrence, in which the delivery of contracted goods/services is claimed to require more financial resources than was originally agreed upon between a project sponsor and a contractor. 2.3 causes of cost overruns cost overruns in the construction industry have been attributed to a number of causes, including technical errors in design or estimation, managerial incompetence, risks and uncertainties, suspicions of foul play, deception and delusion, and even corruption (ahiaga-dagbui and smoth, 2014). the two main causes of cost overruns in a project, according to flyvbjerg, holm and buhl (2004) are: optimism bias and strategic misrepresentations. optimism bias summarises the systematic tendency of decision-makers to be more positive about the results of planned actions; whereas strategic misrepresentations have to do with confusing or misleading actions used by planners in politics and economics, to ensure that projects proceed. furthermore, other surveys have identified the four major factors that cause cost overruns for a project are: variations in design, insufficient project planning, inclement weather conditions, and building materials’ price fluctuation (allahaim and liu 2012). in another study, the top five (5) important causes of cost overruns in large projects in vietnam were: poor site management and supervision, poor subcontractors and project management assistants, owners’ financial constraints, contractors’ financial difficulties, and changes in design (le-hoai et el., 2008). al-najjar (2008) investigated the causes of cost overruns in the gaza strip, and found that fluctuations in the prices of construction materials, as a result of border closure, was the major cause of cost overruns. other factors were: delays in the delivery of materials and equipment to site, and inflation of the prices of materials. in another study, subramani et el. (2014) surveyed the causes of cost overruns in india. the results indicated that, slow decision-making at the planning stage of a project, poor project schedules and management, increases in the prices of materials and machines, poor contract management, poor design, delay in producing design, rework due to mistakes, land-acquisition problems, poor estimation or estimation techniques, and the long-time taken between the design and the time of bidding/tendering are the major causes of cost overruns. aziz (2013) examined the factors causing cost overruns in waste-water projects in egypt, and concluded that lowest tendering procurement method, additional works, bureaucracy in tendering methods, wrong cost-estimation methods, and funding problems by client were the major causes of cost overruns. shanmugapriya and subramanian (2013) identified 54 causes of cost overruns and categorised them in to six (6) major groups, namely: financial group (the fluctuating exchange rate, and the lack of sound financial management and planning); construction items group (mistakes during construction, wastages on-site, inadequate design, the lack of co-ordination at design stage, and the rework needed due to mistakes or errors); political group (difficulties in importing equipment and materials); materials group (changes in materials specifications, material price increases, and material shortage); labour and equipment group (the high cost of machinery, high maintenance costs of machinery, frequent breakdown of the construction plant and equipment, and high transportation costs); and owner’s responsibility group (additional work by clients, and the high quality of work required). ameh et al. (2010) examined the significant factors causing cost overruns in the telecommunication projects in nigeria. the results revealed the following: lack of experience by the contractor, the high cost of importing materials, and the materials’ price fluctuation. in another study, ejaz et al. (2011) discovered that increases in material prices, poor project control techniques, shortage of technical personnel, delays in work approval, and the shortage of materials and plant/equipment are the major causes of cost overruns in pakistan. baloyi and bekker (2011) conducted a study on the causes of cost overruns in the 2010 fifa world cup stadia in south africa. the result revealed that project complexity, increases in labour costs, inaccurate quantity estimations, differences between the selected bid and the consultants’ estimates, variation orders by clients during construction, and manpower shortage were the main causes of cost overruns. kaliba et al. (2009) concluded that the problem of cost overruns in zambia were caused by inclement weather conditions, changes in the size of projects, the cost of environmental sustainability, delays in the work programme, civil unrest, technical constraints, and increases in material prices. omoregie and radford (2006) examined the causes of cost overruns in the infrastructural projects in nigeria. the result revealed the major causes as: fluctuations in material prices, financing and payments made for completed works, inefficient contract management, delays in scheduling, variations in site condition, inaccurate cost estimates, and material shortages. in another study, kasimu (2012) found that fluctuations in materials prices, insufficient time, lack of experience in contracts works, and incomplete drawings were the major causes of cost overruns in building construction projects in nigeria. malumfashi and shuaibu (2012) conducted a study on the causes of cost overruns in the infrastructural projects 42 i. saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 in nigeria. the results revealed the major causes as improper planning, material-price fluctuations, and inadequate finance from the project’s inception. 2.4 construction-material waste and cost overrun construction waste entails both the physical and the nonphysical waste, therefore, there is a nexus between material waste originating from the physical waste and cost overrun from the non-physical waste, since they both originate from the same waste family (saidu and shakantu, 2016a). this classification is shown in figure 1 figure 1: classification of construction waste moreover, research evidence revealed that material waste accounts for additional percentage of cost overrun in countries like the uk, hong kong, netherlands, nigeria and so forth (ameh and itodo, 2013; saidu and shakantu, 2015; saidu and shakantu, 2016a; saidu, 2016). for instance, tam et al. (2007 in ameh and itodo, 2013) reported that, in the uk, material waste accounts for an additional 15% of construction project cost overruns and for approximately 11% of construction cost overruns in hong kong. similarly, a study conducted in the netherlands revealed a cost overrun of between 20% and 30% as a result of construction-material wastage (bossink and bounwers, 1996). however, the methodologies adopted to achieve these contributions of material waste to cost overruns are based on surveys and considered a subjective assessment. nonetheless, these studies have failed to objectively (quantitatively and empirically) address the contributions of material waste to project cost overruns, because of wrong perceptions and this calls for actual data such as on-site observation and records (saidu and shakantu, 2016b). it was on this basis that saidu and shakantu (2016b) carried out an objective assessment of the contributions of material waste to cost overruns in abuja, nigeria. the results revealed that material waste contributes an average of 4.0% to project cost overruns for the entire projects. 3. research methodology this research covers building construction projects within abuja, the federal capital territory of nigeria. abuja was selected because it is one of the metropolitan cities of nigeria that has the highest population of professionals within the built environment and has many on-going construction projects. primary data were generated from interviews conducted with thirty (30) construction professionals within abuja. the interviews were conducted using purposive sampling techniques. it is purposive, because only building-construction professionals handling projects worth 1.6 billion naira (8 million usd) and above were consulted/interviewed. projects of 8 million usd and above are likely to be handled by more experienced professionals, who might be more familiar with the issues leading to material waste and cost overrun than the projects of less value. furthermore, leedy and ormrod (2014) believed that the size of interviews using a purposive sampling technique ranges between 5 and 25 participants. the thirty (30) professionals interviewed in this research included: 15 project managers (pms), 9 quantity surveyors (qss), 5 site engineers (ses), and 1 senior technical officer (sto) of a construction-waste management department. the interviews were on the issues relating to material waste and cost overruns at the pre-contract and at the postcontract stages of a construction project. an interview guide was used to collect empirical data. the interviews were conducted in order to solicit the opinions of construction professionals on the causes of material waste that relate to causes of cost overruns. the semi-structured but in depth interview guide assisted the researchers. the interview guide was structured in two major group namely: pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project. probing questions were asked during discussion with the interviewees in order to obtain further information. an average of thirty-five (35) minutes was spent in conducting each interview. all the thirty (30) respondents identified in this research through the purposive sampling method responded to all the questions presented for discussion. moreover, the application of the inductive analysis of data in qualitative research enabled the researchers to extensively condense raw data into brief and summary format, and to establish clear links between the research purpose and the summary findings derived from raw data. the recorded, transcribed and interpreted interview data were analysed by using the deductive approach, which involves constant comparative analysis of the data, after it has been sorted and coded to generate knowledge about any common pattern within the interviewees’ evidence on material waste and cost overrun. the analysis began by comparing the opinions made by the first two interviewees. the process continued with a comparison of the data from the comments and inputs from each new interviewee, until all the responses had been compared with each other. the similarities and differences among the interviewees’ responses were used to develop a conceptualisation of the possible relationship between the various data items. non-physical construction waste cost overrun time overrun material waste i.saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 43 the interviews result which are composed in themes are therefore, summarised in table 3 and table 4 of this research. 4. research findings 4.1 findings from secondary data (literature review) this section presents the research results identified from the literature review. 4.1.1 relationship between material waste and cost overrun at pre-contract stage of a project table 1 reveals that most of the causes of material waste and those of cost overruns identified from the literature are the same. all the causes of material waste were also identified as the causes of cost overrun at the pre-contact stage of a project but not vice versa. for instance, 31 out of the 32 causes of cost overruns considered at the precontract stage of a project were also found to cause material waste, which indicate a 96.88% relationship (precontract stage). the only cause of material waste not linked to cause of cost overrun was ‘the practice of assigning the contract to the lowest bidder’. this means that all causes of material waste also cause anticipated cost overrun at the pre-contract stage of a project. but only 96.88% of the causes of cost overrun cause material waste. the remaining 3.12% is not related. this implies that, managing the causes of material waste at this stage denotes managing a 96.88% of the causes of cost overruns. 4.1.2 relationship between material waste and cost overrun at post-contract stage of a project table 2 shows the causes of cost overrun that are related to the causes of material waste at the post-contract stage of a project. out of the 66 causes of cost overruns considered, 54 also cause material waste showing an 81.81% relationship at the post-contract stage of a project. this shows that, at the post-contract stage of a project, all material waste causes are also responsible for the causes of cost overruns. but on the other hand, when causes of cost overruns are considered, there is an 81.81% relationship with causes of material waste. the remaining 18.19% are not related and are mostly, the micro and macro-economic factors. this implies that managing material waste at this stage denotes managing 81.81% of cost overruns. the material waste causes that are marked with the sign (x) are not found in the causes of cost overrun and therefore, labelled as not related to cost overrun. table 1. causes of material waste related to causes of cost overruns at the pre-contract stage. sn causes of cost overrun cost overrun material waste 1 design error   2 deficiencies in cost estimates   3 insufficient time for estimate   4 improper planning at on stage   5 political complexities   6 insurance problems   7 changes in material specification   8 laws and regulatory framework   9 lack of experience of local regulation   10 practice of assigning contract to the lowest bidder  x 11 poor communication flow among design team   12 communication error amongst parties in planning   13 poor knowledge of the changing requirements   14 lack of design information   15 designing irregular shapes and forms   16 different methods used in estimation   17 improper coordination   18 delays in design   19 optimism bias   20 complicated design   21 inadequate specifications   22 incomplete drawings   23 error in design and detailing   24 poor design management   25 inadequate site investigation   26 difficulties in interpreting specification   27 delay in preparation and approval of drawings   28 designing uneconomical shapes and outlines   29 frequent demand for design changes   30 inexperienced designer   31 unsatisfactory budget for waste management   32 lack of communication among parties at precontract stage   summary=31/32x100=96.88% 44 i. saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 table 2. causes of material waste related to causes of cost overrun from literature sn causes of cost overrun (post-contract) cost overrun material waste 1 monthly payment difficulties  x 2 poor planning by contractors   discovery of heritage materials to replace imported ones   4 market conditions  x 5 cash flow and financial difficulties faced by contractors  x 6 slow information flow between the parties   7 escalation of material prices  x 8 increase in wages  x 9 poor site management and supervision   10 exchange rate fluctuation  x 11 deficiencies in the social structure   12 optimism bias   13 labour cost increases due to environment restriction  x 14 insufficient equipment   15 deficiencies in the infrastructure   16 lack of communication among parties   17 change in the scope of work   18 delay of payment to supplier/subcontractors   19 shortage of materials   20 on-site waste   21 project size   22 lack of constructability   23 unrealistic contract duration   24 delay in material procurement   25 inexperienced contractor   26 shortage of site workers   27 work security problems   28 re-work   29 experience in contracts   30 workers health problems   31 unexpected subsoil conditions   32 poor geological surveys   33 financial difficulties of contractor   34 social and cultural impact   35 inaccurate site investigation   36 inadequate use of modern equipment & technology   37 obtaining materials at official current prices  x 38 labour problems   39 increase in material prices  x 40 owner interference   41 slow payment of works  x 42 high interest rate charged by banks on loans  x 43 fraudulent practices   44 labour disputes and strike   45 improper coordination amongst parties at post contract stage   46 poor technical performance   47 equipment availability/failure   48 number of works being done at same time   49 poor financial control on site   50 poor site management and supervision   51 site constraints   52 lack of skilled labour   53 mistakes during construction   54 delay in decision making   55 late materials/equipment delivery   56 unpredictable weather condition   57 unforeseen site conditions   58 management-labour relationship   59 inexperience of project location   summary=48/59x100=81.36% 4.1.3 summary of the relationships at the pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project summing all the causes at both the pre-contract and the post-contract stages, 32+59=91, a total of 79 out of 98 causes of cost overruns also cause material waste showing 79/91x100=86.81% relationship. these findings are also graphically represented in figure 2 i.saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 45 figure 2. relationship between material waste and cost overrun at all stages of a project it can therefore be concluded that the relationship between causes of material-waste and causes of cost overruns is 86.81%. though, this result is not the actual contribution of material waste to cost overrun, but a relationship between their causes (material waste and cost overruns). the actual contribution of material waste to cost overrun could vary from site to site and from different geographical locations. 4.2 findings from primary data (interview) this section presents the research findings identified from interview session with the respondent. 4.2.1 material waste causes related to causes of cost overruns at the pre-contract and post contract stages of a project table 3 summarises the results of the interviews conducted with construction professionals on the causes of material waste that are related to the causes of cost overruns at pre-contract and pot-contract stages of a project. sn material waste causes that relate to causes of cost overruns at the pre-contract stage of a project sn material waste causes that relate to causes of cost overruns at the post-contract stage of a project planning phase site management phase 1 improper planning storage source 2 lack of feasibility and viability studies 1 wrong material/equipment storage/stacking 3 lack of legislative enforcement 2 wrong materials handling from storage to application 4 inadequate site investigation 3 damage by other trades 5 inadequate scheduling 4 poor site storage area 6 poor communication flow among members 5 long storage distance from application point 7 improper coordination of the entire project 6 damage by weather 8 unsatisfactory budget for waste management security source 9 insurance problem 7 inadequate site security/fencing 10 poor plan for material standardization 8 theft 11 inadequate plan for waste management unit 9 vandalism, sabotage pilferage, and material damage 12 improper plan for material waste re-use & disposal 10 power and lighting problems on site non-physical construction waste cost overrun time overrun material waste relating material waste to cost overrun percentage of material waste in cost overrun percentage of cost overrun in material waste material waste cost overrun 100% relationship cost overrun materia l waste 96.88% relationship 3.12% has no relationship material waste cost overrun 100% relationship cost overrun material waste 81.36% relationship 18.64% has no relationship pre contract stage of a project postcontract stage of a project average percentage relationship at the pre and at post contract stages of a project is 86.81% average percentage relationship at the pre and post contract stages averagely, 13.19% has no relationship at pre and at post contract stages 46 i. saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 13 improper program of work 14 improper plan for site organization and layout site conditions 15 lack of regular site meetings 11 lack of adherence to program of work 16 compliance with local authority in case of local laws 12 leftover materials on site 17 improper planning and understanding of method statement 13 waste resulting from packaging 18 improper planning of project risks 14 lack of environmental awareness 19 lack of inclusion of waste management in bidding process 15 difficulties in accessing construction site 20 improper plan for the establishment of a quality control unit 16 problems relating to on-site health and safety 21 inexperienced personnel in planning 17 wrong placement of equipment on site 22 improper plan for record of material inventory 18 site accidents 23 poor harmonization of brief 19 late delivery of materials 24 poor knowledge of site conditions operation source 25 cost related problems 20 lack of quality control 26 inadequate identification of construction techniques 21 lack of waste management plans 27 poor material estimation 22 non-availability of appropriate equipment 28 communication error between client and designer 23 wrong placement of equipment on site 29 frequent demand for design change 24 communication problems design phase 25 late information flow among parties 30 frequent design changes and material specification 26 lack of co-ordination among parties 31 error in design and detailing 27 poor construction planning and control 32 lack of design information 28 poor site supervision 33 design complexity / complication 29 rework 34 poor communication flow among design team 30 inappropriate records of materials 35 designing dead spaces 31 lack/poor adherence to material waste regulations 36 poor knowledge of the changing design requirements 32 inappropriate delegation of responsibilities 37 poor management of design process 33 lack of experience 38 inexperience designer / design team 34 site accidents 39 interaction between various specialists material procurement and transportation phase 40 designing uneconomical shapes and outlines 35 mistakes in material procurement 41 lack of standardization in design/ sizes and units 36 procuring items not in compliance with specification 42 lack of buildability analysis 37 errors in shipping 43 difficulty in interpreting material specifications 38 mistakes in quantity surveys: poor estimate for procurement 44 readability, constructability and maintainability 39 wrong material delivery procedures 45 insufficient time for design 40 delivery of substandard materials 46 poor harmonization of client’s brief 41 damage of material during transportation 47 over or under designing 42 inadequate delivery schedule 48 poor structural arrangement of a design 43 poor market conditions 49 aesthetic considerations 44 poor material handling 50 poor planning of design process 45 waiting for replacement 51 poor design functionality 46 poor protection of materials and damage during transportation 52 designing unavailable technology 47 over allowance 53 lack of geo-physical survey 48 frequent variation orders estimating phase 49 poor product knowledge 54 over/under estimating 50 procuring wrong quantity of materials at the wrong time 55 inaccurate quantity take-off 51 inexperienced personnel in estimation and procurement 56 insufficient time for estimate 52 procuring substandard materials 57 different estimation methods 53 difficulties of vehicles in accessing site 58 inexperienced estimator 54 lack of quality control assurance for evaluation of procured product 59 lack of detailed drawing and specifications (readable and interpretable) 55 lack of professionalism and transparency in procurement i.saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 47 60 inadequate project risks evaluation, analysis, and estimation 56 competent procurement management 61 inadequate knowledge of site conditions 62 lack of estimating information 63 poor knowledge of fluctuating market conditions/prices 64 frequent design change 65 late engagement of estimators 4.2.1 managing material waste and cost overrun in order to effectively manage material waste and cost overruns on construction sites, the material waste control measures that have effects in controlling cost overruns at both pre-contract and post-contract stages of a project must be put in place. the material waste control measures that have effects on cost overruns were identified and summarised from the interview session with the respondents. these are presented in table 4. table 4. material waste control measures that have effects in controlling cost overruns at the pre-contract and at the post contract stages of a project sn material waste control measures that have effects in controlling cost overruns at the precontract stage of a project sn material waste control measures that have effects in controlling cost overruns at the postcontract stage of a project 1 plan for early sub-soil investigations 1 better transportation of materials 2 plan for inclusion of waste management in bidding and tendering processes 2 efficient methods of unloading materials supplied in loose form 3 proper planning of construction projects layout 3 adopting good materials abstracting 4 proper investment into waste reduction 4 provision of easy access road for vehicles delivery 5 proper coordination and communication at precontract stage of a project 5 adoption of unified method of estimating for procurement process 6 improved planning and scheduling 6 ordering appropriate materials quantity and timely delivery of materials 7 execute a plan that will reduce frequent design change 7 tight security, workable security lighting, and adequate site temporary fencing 8 enhance regulation execution of related government departments and legislative enforcement 8 integration of waste management into the assessment of construction contractor 9 set a target for material waste reduction 9 procuring in accordance with specification 10 ensure adequate geophysical surveys 10 experienced personnel in estimation and procurement 11 proper insurance of works 11 insurance of the procured materials 12 plan for material standardisation 12 recycle generated waste materials 13 re-improving process (monitoring / learning from previous mistakes and improving on them) 13 formation of a quality control unit for evaluation of procured product 14 regular site meetings 14 competent procurement management 15 establishment of good waste management unit 15 professionalism and transparency in procurement 16 carrying design team along 16 materials manufactured in standard units 17 adequate material waste estimation 17 knowledge of product to be manufactured 18 planning of project risks 18 better and improved supply chain management 19 communication and coordination of design process 19 adequate site organization and discipline 20 consideration of available technology, resources and materials 20 proper administration of 5ms (men, material, money, machines and management) on site 21 identification of construction technique 21 proper scheduling and planning 22 performance of feasibility and viability studies 22 use of skilled and experienced labour 23 performing a buildability analysis 23 adequate site control and supervision 24 proper harmonization of brief 24 competent supplier 25 improve major project stakeholders’ awareness on resource saving & environmental protection 25 research and development in the discipline of waste management 26 a design recommending available human resources and local materials 26 proper records and documentation of materials/daily record taking and materials request booklets. 27 design for materials optimization 27 improve contractors’ onsite construction management 48 i. saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 28 design for reuse and recovery 28 appropriate material storage 29 design for offsite construction 29 proper communication & coordination on site 30 designing for deconstruction 30 error-free construction process 31 designing economic shapes and outlines 31 process improvement techniques 32 use of prefabricated units and standard materials 32 adequate building technique 33 interaction between different designers (architects and engineer) 33 establish systems of rewards and punishments for material saving 34 utilization modular designs 34 proper management workers support 35 reduced design complexity 35 awareness among practitioners on managing waste 36 explicit detailing in design 36 staff vocational training 37 interpretable design and specifications 37 ensuring that good quality workmanship is achieved 38 experienced designer 38 appropriate material utilization 39 proper management of design process 39 availability of good work-life balance 40 error-free design 40 engaging competent workers 41 proper monitoring and supervision of work 41 adherence to specifications 42 readable dimensions and specifications 42 regular site meetings 43 proper design information and consultation 43 better storage facilities and environment/area 44 adherence to clients’ brief 44 improved method of material usage 45 sufficient time for design 45 standard evaluation and comparing with specification 46 early engagement of designer 46 proper material protection against weather 47 experienced personnel in planning 47 adherence to design and specifications 48 adherence to waste management regulations and waste management throughout the entire project lifecycle 49 on-site and offsite re-use of waste, separation of hazardous waste and on-site waste sorting to achieve effective construction material waste management (ecmwm) in any construction project, material waste must be controlled at its sources and causes and at different stages of a project. this will in turn control a coefficient of cost overrun for that project (saidu and shakantu, 2016a). to accomplish this, figures 3 and 4 show the interrelationship between project stages (precontract and post-contract), ecmwm, material-waste sources, material-waste causes and the percentage coefficient of cost overrun. figure 4 shows that, unless construction-material waste control (ecmwm in table 3) is tight at all sources and causes of material waste and at the stages of a project otherwise, cost overrun is bound to occur. for example, as shown in figure 3, if control is loose at the stages of a project (pre-contract / post-contract) or at material waste sources / causes, the project may likely overrun its initial budget by certain percentage. in figure 3 the overrun is shown as a heavy weight in red ink pulling down the project. though, the overrun may not completely be occasioned by material waste alone, but by a coefficient /certain percentage while the other remaining percentage may be caused by other factors, such as macro and micro economic variables and so forth (saidu and shakantu, 2016a). the information in figure 3 is further represented in figure 4 (venn diagram of set theory in mathematics) showing the interrelationships and intersections between material waste causes, material waste sources, coefficient of cost overrun, project stages, and ecmwm. as stated earlier, the cost overrun must be a coefficient (a percentage), because it cannot be completely caused by material waste in a complete project. figure 4 shows how ecmwm could be utilised through a simple mathematics equation to eliminate the likely coefficient of cost overrun for a project. to achieve this, three thin lines were drawn from one end to the other in order to form a triangle within the three intersecting circles. the three lines ends were labelled a, b and c with the running lines labelled as line 01, a-b; line 02, a-c; and line 03 b-c respectively. for instance, line 01, a-b forms the hypotenuse of a rightangle triangle which is completed with doted lines meeting at the ecmwm. this will be used as one of the equations that would determine how the coefficient of cost overrun would be directly eliminated with a complete application of ecmwm in a project. the same applies to other lines (line 02, a-c and line 03, b-c). the assumption here is that, if waste management and control processes are completely applied (100%) in a project, the coefficient of the cost overrun for that project can therefore be completely eliminated and vice versa. the coefficient of cost overrun identified from the literature (figure 2, average percentage relationship between material waste and cost overrun) was 0.8681. i.saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 49 figure 3. summary of the relationship in figure 2 this interrelationship is shown in figure 4. figure 4: relationship between project stages, waste sources, waste causes, management and cost overrun this relationship is further represented mathematically showing how the coefficient of cost overrun is minimised/eliminated with effective construction material waste management (ecmwm) from each scenario. line 01, a-b: considering line 01, a-b. this includes four (4) main issues namely: the project stages (a), waste sources (b), ecmwm (general intersecting point), and the coefficient of cost overrun (intersection between a and b) which is required to be minimised/eliminated. the equation can be written as: 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 + 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 + (– 0.87 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛) = 0 (1a) project stages w aste sources w aste causes w aste control waste sources project stages waste causes effective construction material waste management cost overrun c b a line 01, a-b 50 i. saidu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2017) 1(1). 39-52 this can be re-written as: 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 + 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 – 0.87 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 = 0 (1𝑏) by making “ecmwm” the subject, it will change to positive (active) and the equation will be: 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 = 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 – 0.87𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 (1𝑐) this means that active ecmwm at stages of projects (pre-contract and post-contract) and at sources of material waste would effectively minimise the cost overrun by 0.87. however, if ecmwm is negative (inactive) at project stages and waste source, then the coefficient of cost overrun must remain positive and active as shown in equation 01d. 0.87 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 = 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 – 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 (1𝑑) this is the same with other scenarios line 02, a-c and line 03, b-c. line 02, a-c: 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 – 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 = 0.87 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 (2𝑎) 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 – 0.87 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 = 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 (2𝑏) this means that effective management of waste causes at project stages would effectively minimise project cost overrun by 0.87. however, by making ecmwm inactive and negative, cost overrun will change and take over the positive position in a project as shown in equation 02c. 0.87 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 = 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 – 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 (2𝑐) line 03, b-c 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 + 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 – 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 = 0.87 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 (3𝑎) collecting the like terms by making “ecmwm” the subject, the equation will be: 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 + 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 – 0.87 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 = 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 (3𝑏) therefore, an “ecmwm” would minimise the occurrence of “cost overrun” by 0.87. however, poor “ecmwm” would lead to occurrence of “cost overrun” as shown in the equation below: – 𝐸𝐶𝑀𝑊𝑀 = 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 + 𝑊𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 + 0.87 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑛 (3𝐶) scenario 1 (line 01, a-b), shows that waste sources within the project stage. figure 6; cause an 4% cost overrun. therefore, to effectively control the project waste, there must be an effective construction material waste management (ecmwm) at the project stages and at the waste sources, which will in turn, minimise cost overrun by 0.87. the same applies to the remaining two other scenarios. 5.0 conclusions and further research material waste and cost overrun are identified as global problems which affect the success of many construction projects. these are occasioned by several causes at different stages of projects. identification of these causes at different stages and the application of relevant control measures to minimise their occurrence is a step towards alleviating the consequences. moreover, most managers of construction projects pay little attention to the effects of waste generated on cost overrun. the aim of this research was to examine the relationship between the causes of material waste and those of cost overruns with a view to suggesting the possible ways of minimising their effects at the pre-contract and the post-contract stage of a project. the study reveals an average of 86.81% relationship between the causes of material waste and those of cost overruns at the pre-contract and postcontract stages of a project. 100% of the causes of material waste were found among the causes of cost overruns at the pre-contract and the post-contract stages of a project, while 96.88% and 81.36% of the causes of cost overruns cause material waste at 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received in revised form 4 october 2020, 27 feburary 2021 and 10 may 2021; accepted 15 may 2021. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1.924 abstract construction wastes pose challenges to contractors and clients of construction projects globally, with significant negative consequences on the environment. this study, therefore, investigates the environmental waste management practices (ewmps) of contractors on construction sites. the objectives are to determine the level of awareness and adoption of mps. the population of the study was construction professionals on sites in lagos state, nigeria. the random sampling technique was used to select 63 companies out of the 126 construction companies in categories c, d and e of firms registered with lagos state public procurement agency. the targeted respondents were construction professionals in the selected companies. the questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. descriptive statistics tools, including mean, percentage and frequency, were used for analysis. the study's findings reveal that contractors are aware of about 28 out of the 47 ewmps identified from the literature. these include good site materials storage, ordering an exact amount of materials and checking deliveries properly. it also reveals the strategies that are not used as belonging to material exchange/recyclers' association; polluter pays principle, usage of self-contained mini or mobile concrete crusher. it is concluded that although contractors are aware of 28 ewmps, 26 ewmps are used on construction sites which are 60% and 55%, respectively. it implies that awareness determines the usage of the mps. the implications are that if the awareness of ewmps is increased, the implementation among construction contractors will be improved. it is therefore recommended that professionals should increase their awareness and usage of the neglected ewmps. this can be achieved through construction firms, governments and institutions sponsoring the training of professionals on mps. also, polluter pays principle and recyclers’ association should be enforced in project implementations. this can be achieved through government legislation and government regulatory policies for project procurements. keywords: awareness; best practices; construction sites; nigeria; waste management. 1. introduction advancement in the use of machinery has depleted certain natural resources. additionally, air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, and deforestation are few severe industrialisation threats to humanity (grimms, 2014). the continual growth of inhabitants and industrialisation in developing countries necessitates more homes and offices (ishola, ojo & olaoluwa, 2015). as a result, waste generation has increased in developing countries due to a wide range of construction projects to provide additional infrastructure 2 corresponding author. email address: ooladiran@unilag.edu.ng ©2021 the author(s). published by uct library. this is an open access article under the cc 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (kareem, asa & lawal, 2014; kolawole, 2002 cited in jimoh, 2012). waste generation has serious negative environmental impacts making its management necessary to have a healthy environment (kofoworola, 2006; chandrakanthi, hettiaratchi, prado & ruwanpura, 2002 cited in oladiran, 2008; kareem et al., 2014; musa, ashiru & jibrin, 2015). construction wastes (cw) are useless materials from construction activities and sites. environmental wastes (ew) are unfit substances that are discarded or disposed to the environment. environmental waste management practices (ewmp) in construction projects are methods and strategies engaged by university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1. mailto:ooladiran@unilag.edu.ng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ 18 o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 construction organisations to minimise the generation and disposal of waste from projects to the environment. waste management (wm) engages processes to reduce construction waste volume at landfill through potential waste streams identification, setting goals for materials recovery and ensuring that a range of benefits is met (kareem et al., 2014). however, environmental waste management practices (mps) are not uniform; different waste management concepts vary between countries or regions, urban to rural (tam & lu, 2016; demirbas, 2010). construction waste minimisation (cwm) is a part of sustainable growth and stimulation from the rising concern for the effect of man’s actions on the environment (dania, kehinde & bala, 2007). however, in developing countries such as nigeria, site practices are loose and environmental control is weak, which results in negative environmental consequences (ishola et al., 2015). therefore, it is opined that the awareness of ewmps among professionals is key to their implementation on a construction project. previous studies focused on a different specific category of ewmp and not holistic (oladiran, 2009; kareem et al., 2014; ishola et al., 2015). thus, this study seeks to encompass more ewmps categories for a comprehensive investigation. the problem this study seeks to solve is the environmental hazard of the waste generated from construction activities. the study aims to investigate the ewmps of contractors on construction sites in lagos state, nigeria, to minimise the negative effects of waste on the environment. the specific objectives are to determine the awareness of ewmps by construction professionals and to ascertain the extent of usage on construction sites in nigeria. the significance of this study is that it will bring to light the extent of awareness and usage of environmental waste practices by contractors to minimise the environmental impacts of waste from their site. 2. environmental waste management practices in construction projects previous studies have investigated several ewmps that construction contractors can use. some of them include: zero waste: best waste management practice ensures 'no waste', but construction production is complex; hence designing out waste is affected by many variables and restraints (andy et al., 2002 cited in oladiran, 2008). zero waste philosophy ensures that products are designed to be repaired, refurbished, remanufactured and reused (zafar, 2018). in addition, zero-waste guides waste elimination (snow and dickinson, 2001 cited in davidson, 2011). there are five zero-waste design principles, including efficient procurement, materials optimisation, offsite construction, reuse and recycling, and deconstruction and flexibility (zero waste scotland, n.d.) iso 14001: 1s014001 is a worldwide agreed standard that sets out the requirements for the environmental management system (ems) (international standard organisation (iso), 2015). the first 1s014001 standards were published in 1996 (christini et al., 2004). an ems that separates quality, environmental, health and safety management will lead to redundancy of tasks and information collection, but 1s014001 is an ems that can possibly integrate policies, documentation, data collection, audit, environmental, and health and safety management system, which saves time with an improvement on risk assessment (griffith, 2000 cited in christini et al., 2004). iso14001 makes firms advance their environmental performance voluntarily (shen and tam, 2001), and construction companies can mitigate the negative impacts associated with site activities (christini et al., 2004; ishola et al., 2015). dania et al. (2007.) revealed no specific government legislation on wastes for construction sites in nigeria and that respondents considered project goals of timely project delivery, quality and cost as more important than the impact of the project on the environment. ishola et al. (2015) revealed that nigerian contractors are not 1s014001 compliant. similarly, chen et al. (2004) found that construction firms in china do not use 1s014001. christini et al. (2004), kofoworola (2006), ishola et al. (2015) recommend that construction companies in nigeria should be mandated to develop environmental management policy and embrace implementing complete ems. similarly, chen et al. (2004) recommend adopting is014001-based emss for major construction firms in china and that waste minimisation is achievable using the iso family's standards, policies, and regulations. 1s014001 implementation requires organisational objectives, greater commitment from the principals, stakeholders along the construction supply chain, designated waste management officer, staff training (iso, 2015). the benefits of using 1s014001 are but not limited to improvement on firms' environmental performance voluntarily (shen and tam, 2001). 1s014001 can be integrated into existing the iso family such as iso9001 and iso45001. waste management plans (wmps): site waste management plans (swmps) are legal and compulsory requirements in some parts of the uk for projects with a worth of £300,000 and above (netregs, n.d.; waste and resource action programme (wrap), n.d.; papargyropoulou et al., 2011). in southern wales and northern ireland, the employment of an swmp specialist for effective management of materials is legally mandatory (netregs, n.d.); with this law in the uk, clients must produce site waste management plans before the commencement of the project. in nigeria, the findings of oladiran (2009); wahab and lawal (2011) revealed that waste management plan is not a tender document; the studies recommend the inclusion of waste management plan among tendering documents. oladiran (2009) examined the rate of use of waste management plans and the effects of wmp on construction projects in nigeria. oladiran (2009) revealed that wmps are averagely applied on nigerian construction projects and that the effects of wmp on materials, labour and time waste minimisation is average but high on equipment waste minimisation. papargyropoulou et al. (2011) conducted a preliminary exploratory exercise to weigh the malaysia construction industry’s level of awareness and commitment to sustainable waste management; the study found that the levels of awareness and adoption of swmps are low in malaysia. a typical swmp contains detailed information of the licensed waste carrier, the waste types, quantities and o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 19 actions taken on the waste, completion of consignment and transfer papers and licensed disposal sites (netregs, n.d.). in the uk, the completion of transfer notes before waste leaves the site and the use of waste carriers with valid waste carrier registration certification is a way of staying on the right side of the law (netregs, n.d.; papargyropoulou et al., 2011; cox, 2016). scottish environmental protection agency (sepa) must be notified if waste is hazardous or if waste is dumped indiscriminately (netregs, n.d.). in lagos, wastes, including construction wastes, are dumped around streetlight poles and roads embankments (ajayi et al., 2008). kofoworola (2006) concluded that inhabitants dump waste indiscriminately because there are no distinct waste collection points. papargyropoulou et al. (2011) reported a lack of practical tools and relevant infrastructures as among the barriers to adopting swmps. sapuay (2016) found that construction waste or materials finish up as dumps in the surrounding due to inadequate supervision. on the other hand, gangolells and macarulla (2014) revealed that in catalonia, spain, the designed waste infrastructure is five times more than waste generated. however, gangolells and macarulla (2014) found that one of the least widespread practices of the catalonian construction companies was disseminating the swmp contents to workers to help them meet the plan’s requirements. papargyropoulou et al. (2011) recommend an investigation into practices for adoption and the development of national standard swmps for malaysia. waste sorting: identification of waste composition is also essential for an efficient waste management process due to the amount of reusable waste (oladiran, 2008). waste is characterised as solid, liquid and air pollutants, each typically managed, regulated differently (woodward and curran inc., 2006 cited in davidson, 2011). each group has different methods of disposal and management, hence the need for sorting (“waste management”, n.d.). for instance, site waste composition includes asphalt, concrete, metal, wood, claystone paper, cement, concrete and woodpile (heltiaratchi et al., 1997 cited in oladiran, 2008). the construction process of a 13 storey office building project in the uk emitted 651 tons of co₂ with 73% from electricity and 27% from fuel usage (skanska, 2010 cited ishola et al., 2015). there is also construction dust from stone, cement, bricks, wood or concrete (health & safety executive (hse), n.d.). the five largest toxic air emissions from construction are sulphur dioxide (so₂), nitric dioxide (no₂), volatile organic compounds (voc), toxic releases to air and hazardous waste generated (hendrickson and horvath, 2000). chen et al. (2004) posit that sources of pollution and hazard from construction activities in china could be sorted into seven major types, dust, harmful gases, noises, solid and liquid wastes, falling objects and ground movement. solid waste types from construction and demolition works are wood, steel, concrete, dirt, bricks and tiles (hoornweg and bhadatata, 2012). kofoworola (2006), wahab and lawal (2011), kareem et al. (2014) revealed that sorting is not done on construction sites in nigeria. scavengers sort waste on dumpsites (kofoworola, 2006); sorting is not done as a result of non-availability of space on-site (wahab and lawal, 2011), operatives perceive waste management issues as an extra burden (kareem et al., 2014). waste recycling and recovery: kofoworola (2006) and ajayi et al. (2008) revealed that most construction waste in lagos state is not recycled. ajayi et al. (2008) confirm that little attention is given to recycling and that most construction waste from demolition and renovation works are disposed of aimlessly in dumpsites and landfills. kareem et al. (2014) also revealed that contractors or operatives lack the practice of reuse or recycling materials on site. sapuay (2016) concludes that most construction sites concentrate on sanitary maintenance within their sites with no ewmps that consider reuse, recycling and resource recovery. excess materials from the construction process or residual from demolition can still be useable should the contractor exert efforts in finding ways to use them rather than dispose of them. though appearing the cheapest, landfills are practically expensive and can be impossible because areas with the largest solid waste generation are also the areas with serious land scarcity problem (kofoworola, 2006). waste landfills or dumps occupy valuable land; worse still, landfills are hideous and sources of environmental hazards (ajayi et al., 2008). ajayi et al. (2008) opine that reuse and recycling prevent pollution and environmental impacts of waste. reducing, reusing and recycling waste are profitable alternatives that will increase the lifetime of landfills and reduce the exploitation of natural resources. compact self-contained mini or mobile crusher for demolished concrete can be used on-site; the advent of crusher attachments allows the connection of concrete crushers to various construction equipment such as excavators. kareem et al. (2014) found that metal was the only material worth recycling on-site; comparatively, little income is generated from recycling most other building materials. reclaimed materials sold on landfills are metals, copper, aluminium, lead, blast iron paper, plastic, polyvinyl, plastic bottles, glass and so on (kofoworola, 2006). kofoworola (2006) reports were on landfills while kareem et al. (2014) were on construction sites; this suggests that fewer materials are recovered or recycled on the construction sites. revitalisation: revitalisation is a waste management practice that assures that there are no leftover waste onsite. it involves neutralising chemically harmful materials on-site, then replanting trees and vegetation. for example, certain construction waste materials usually contain leads, asbestos and other hazardous substances. in addition, certain components of construction waste, such as plasterboard once landfilled, are hazardous because it increases hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas. waste material recovery facility (wmrf): wmrf is a specialised plant that accepts, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing for end-user manufacturers (zafar, 2018). the two main mrf types are the dirty type which accepts mixed waste, and the clean type, which does not. hong kong has a wmrf since 1998 (ming-zhi and gao, 2006) cited in (wahi et al., 2015). after launching the offsite construction waste sorting (cws) program, the hong kong government built two waste sorting facilities in tuenmun and tuseng kwano areas in 2006 (lu and yuan, 2012 cited in wahi et al., 2015). wahi et al. (2015) reported that the practice of waste sorting has improved after the construction of the 20 o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 recycling facilities and the enforcement of polluters pay policy; this implies that there is a need for structures to be brought nearer to the people and government initiatives to ensure the adoption of environmental friendly wmps. kofoworola (2006) reported that there was no single official waste wmrf in nigeria; the study recommends the development of environmental policies for recovery and recycling promotion in lagos state and the recovery of landfill gas (lfg) for energy generation. a former lagos state governor, mr babatunde fashola san, commissioned a n1.3 billion solid waste mrf in alimosho local government area, in lagos state on 12th of may 2015 ("fashola commissions n1bn recycling plant in igando", 2015). the facility is the first of its kind in nigeria; in the 1st phase, the facility will require about130 trucks of waste on a daily basis to process different waste types into raw materials for plastic and rubber industries (“fashola commissions n1bn recycling plant in igando”, 2015). in the 2nd, electricity will be produced from heat energy of more tons of waste, and the 3rd will include the production of composts for fertilisers to maintain gardens (lagos state governor's office, 2015). ex. governor mr babatunde fashola said that the facility is a conservation strategy to tackle the climate change threats and demonstrate the state government’s commitment to improving the environment and creating economic benefits (“fashola commissions n1bn recycling plant in igando”, 2015). dubanowitz (2000) investigated the design and operation of a 150tons/day (876000tons/yr) facility for new york recyclables; the study posits that the facility would save $46million for the city waste management yearly. as the construction industry meets the growing human needs, the environment and the natural resource essential for development must be protected and conserved. wmrfs also process wastes into feedstock for biological conversion (gheewala and nielsen, 2003 cited in kofoworola, 2006). 3. research method a survey research design was used for this study. it was used because it enables the gathering of data from the respondents at a time to provide answers to the research objectives. the area of study was lagos state. lagos state is the second most populous state in nigeria; the population is estimated at 17,552,940 (2012 census conducted by lasg) and population density of 2,500/km2. lagos state is one of the most economically vibrant states, a major financial centre and fifth largest economy in africa (“lagos state”, 2019). the gdp per capita is $4,333 (“lagos state”, 2019). the population of the study is the construction firms in lagos state, while the sampling frame comprises of those registered with the lagos state public procurement agency, categories c, d and e. the targeted respondents are construction professionals in the firms. the population size of the frame is 126 construction firms were identified, out of which 63 were randomly chosen for the study. a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. the questionnaire had two sections, a and b. section a focuses on the demographic information of the respondents. section b investigates the awareness and usage of a set of ewmps on sites coined from literature, using a 5-point likert scale. the questionnaires were administered to the construction professionals in the 63 selected firms, out of which responses were received from 57 and used for the study. validity is defined as the degree to which a measuring instrument measures what it is designed to measure. it is the ability of the instrument to measure what it is supposed to measure. academic scholars revealed the errors in the questionnaires and were adjusted to ensure validity. reliability is defined as the consistency between independent measurements of the same phenomenon. it is the stability, dependability and predictability of a measuring instrument. it connotes the accuracy or precision of a measuring instrument. the coefficient alpha, otherwise known as cronbach's alpha reliability, was calculated for the data used in the study. the average cronbach's alpha reliability value was 0.850. this is significantly more than the satisfactory 0.7, and 0.6 values recommended in robson (2000) and azika (2004), respectively. it implies that the data used are adequately reliable. mean and frequency was used to analyse the data. 4. findings and discussion 4.1 demographic information the organisations' and respondents' profiles are presented in table 1. table 1: demographic information r e sp o n d e n ts desciption frequency % architects 15 27.3 builders 9 16.3 civil engineers 20 36.4 mechanical engineers 1 1.8 quantity surveyors 10 18.2 total 55 100 educational qualification hnd 9 16.1 b.sc. 27 48.2 pgd 2 3.6 m.sc. 18 32.1 total 56 100 professional membership nia 11 20.4 niobe 8 14.8 nse 21 38.9 news 8 14.8 none 6 11.1 total 54 100 experience 0 – 5 9 15.8 6 – 10 18 31.6 11 – 15 15 26.3 16 – 20 6 10.5 over 20years 9 15.8 total 57 100 o r g a n is a ti o n s category < n100m 2 3.6 n100m<n300m 9 16.1 n300m<n1b 10 17.9 n1b< n10b 17 30.4 n10m and above 18 32.1 total 56 100 o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 21 ownership expatriate 13 22.8 indigenous 44 77.2 total 57 100 type contracting 51 89.5 consulting 5 8.8 client 1 1.8 total 57 100 the professions of the respondents shown in table 1 reveals that 27.3% of them are architects, another 16.3% are builders, 1.8% are mechanical engineers, 36.4% are civil engineers, and 18.2 % are quantity surveyors. about 16% of them holds higher national diploma (hnd) degree, 48.2% holds b.sc. degree, 32% holds m.sc. degree and 3.6% holds postgraduate diploma (pgd) degree. close to 16% each of the respondents’ work experience were between 1 to 5 years, and above 20 years, 31.6% were between 6 to 10 years, 26.3% were between 11 to 15 years, and 10.5% were between 16 to 20 years. more than 20% of them were members of the nigerian institute of architects (nia), 14.8% each of the nigerian institute of quantity surveying (niqs) and nigerian institute of building (niob), about 39% of the nigerian society of engineers (nse) and 11% did not indicate whether they were members of any professional body. additionally, 89.5% were contracting organisations, 8.8% were consulting, and 1.8% was a client organisation. just 3.6% of the organisations belong to the category that is < n100 million project capability, 16% belong to n100m < n300 million, 18% belong to n300million < n1billion, 30.4% belong to n1billion < n10 billion, and 32% belong to n10 billion and above project capability. about 77% of the organisations were fully indigenous organisations, while 23% were fully expatriate. it can be inferred that the respondents from these organisations can supply the needed information for the study. 4.2 awareness of environmental waste management practices the mean of items listed as ewmp was used to rank the awareness of respondents in order to determine the level of awareness of ewmps on construction sites by nigerian contractors in lagos state. the result of the analysis is presented in table 2. respondents were asked to indicate their awareness of 47 ewmps using a 5-point likert scale. table 2: awareness of environmental waste management practices s/n environmental waste management practices n 1 2 3 4 5 std mean gr or zero waste 3.70 1 good site material storage practice 57 0 0 6 26 25 .664 4.33 1 1 2 ordering the required amount of materials as accurately as probable 56 0 1 5 25 25 .716 4.32 2 2 3 checking deliveries for any shortages and or damages 57 0 3 5 23 26 .835 4.26 3 3 4 just in time delivery for a reduction in storage and materials losses 57 0 3 13 31 10 .774 3.84 4 6 5 use of site materials control 57 0 3 13 31 10 .774 3.84 4 6 6 use of fabrication, offsite prefabrication 57 2 2 21 22 10 .938 3.63 6 9 7 use of standard and realistic components 57 4 3 15 23 12 1.096 3.63 6 9 8 no ‘throwing away waste’ 57 5 7 14 22 9 1.163 3.40 8 14 19 designing out waste at the earliest stage of the construction process 56 2 11 15 20 8 1.071 3.38 9 16 10 minimising temporary works 56 0 10 28 14 4 .825 3.21 10 20 11 use of recyclable materials 57 4 16 22 11 4 1.023 2.91 11 30 iso 14001 3.01 12 top management commitment 57 3 10 13 22 9 1.117 3.42 1 13 13 organisational waste objectives 56 5 9 21 13 8 1.146 3.18 2 21 14 sources of materials considered if the company is certified with environmental standards 56 6 7 22 16 5 1.096 3.13 3 23 15 supply chain impact by communicating environmental impacts to suppliers 56 6 12 20 15 3 1.069 2.95 4 29 16 using designated waste management officer 57 13 13 14 10 7 1.330 2.74 5 32 17 staff training on waste 57 12 15 16 9 5 1.232 2.65 6 40 waste management plans (wmps) 2.81 18 disposal at licensed sites 57 4 11 14 20 8 1.149 3.30 1 19 19 sanctions for poor waste disposal 57 2 18 15 18 4 1.033 3.07 3 28 20 information about the client, the principal contractor, the person that drafted the swmp 57 5 18 19 12 3 1.037 2.82 4 31 21 estimation and waste management action for each waste type 57 7 19 14 16 1 1.061 2.74 5 32 22 use of waste carriers with valid waste carrier registration certification 57 8 16 19 13 1 1.034 2.70 6 35 23 completion of consignment note before waste leaves the site 57 9 20 15 12 1 1.051 2.58 7 41 24 completion of transfer notes before waste leaves the site 57 11 17 21 7 1 1.002 2.47 9 45 waste sorting 2.85 25 separation of inert and non-inert wastes on sites 57 1 10 32 9 5 .867 3.12 2 24 26 designated skips for different materials 57 8 19 22 5 3 1.017 2.58 7 41 waste accommodation/storage 3.71 22 o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 27 high quality of housekeeping on site 57 1 3 12 17 24 1.007 4.05 1 4 28 site plan showing waste storage points 57 4 6 24 11 12 1.144 3.37 2 17 waste collection and transportation 3.43 29 waste packed manually into waste trucks 57 1 4 14 23 15 .996 3.82 1 8 30 loading of waste truck mechanically 57 1 7 25 16 8 .942 3.40 2 14 31 waste collection planning 56 5 8 16 16 11 1.212 3.36 3 18 32 use of hydraulic compactor 57 6 6 27 11 7 1.103 3.12 4 24 waste recycling and recovery 2.59 33 reuse: conversion of the waste stream into reuse pathway 56 6 20 19 7 4 1.060 2.70 1 35 34 reduction or recycling of the packaging for materials delivered 57 9 18 18 6 6 1.183 2.68 2 37 35 recycle: recovery of the value of waste stream for recycling purpose 57 8 18 19 9 3 1.075 2.67 3 38 36 use of compact, self-contained mini crushers or mobile crusher for demolished concrete 57 14 20 15 7 1 1.038 2.32 4 46 revitalisation 2.89 37 replanting trees and vegetation. 57 5 14 17 12 9 1.205 3.11 1 26 38 neutralisation of chemically harmful materials on site 57 8 17 19 12 1 1.024 2.67 2 38 waste incineration 2.72 39 waste is transported to an incinerator 57 12 13 14 15 2 1.221 2.72 1 34 waste material recovery facility 2.49 40 waste is transported to waste material recovery facility 57 9 16 28 3 1 .889 2.49 1 44 waste behaviour 3.33 41 awareness of the consequences of waste and taking personal responsibility for others’ well being 57 3 5 20 18 11 1.071 3.51 1 11 42 cost savings from waste reduction made beneficial to all site management staff 57 5 6 26 16 4 1.008 3.14 2 22 air quality strategy 3.50 43 dust reduction measures during construction 57 2 1 11 29 14 .912 3.91 1 5 44 maximum level of emission is considered for development application approval in each local council 57 6 7 24 16 4 1.057 3.09 2 27 vegetation preservation 3.46 45 preservation of existing vegetation 56 1 9 20 15 11 1.044 3.46 1 12 polluter pays principle 2.56 46 requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of unrecoverable material (extended responsibility to the material manufacturer). 57 6 24 18 7 2 .964 2.56 1 43 building materials exchange/ recycler’s association 1.82 47 belong to a material exchange/recyclers’ association 56 25 19 9 3 0 .897 1.82 1 47 n= total respondents, 1 represents not aware, 2 represents slightly aware, 3 represents moderately aware, 4 represents highly aware, 5 represents very highly aware, mean, gr= group ranking, or= overall ranking. the criterion used to determine the awareness level of ewmps on construction sites by the respondents are those variables whose mean scores are 3.00 and above, which represents ‘moderate awareness’ on the scale. the 47 ewmps were categorised into 15; namely, zero waste, iso 14001, waste management plans, waste sorting, waste accommodation/storage, waste collection and transportation, waste recycling and recovery, revitalisation, waste incineration, waste material recovery facility, waste behaviour, air quality strategy, vegetation preservation, polluter pays principle and building materials exchange/recycler’s association. the following can be observed from table 2: zero waste: the respondents are aware of the strategies in this category except for the use of recyclable materials (2.91). this result supports the conclusion of ajayi et al. (2008); wahab and lawal (2011) that recycling is a rare practice in nigeria. the first three highest-ranked practices are good site material storage practice, ordering the required amount of materials accurately and checking deliveries for shortages and damages with means of 4.33, 4.32 and 4.26, respectively. it has confirmed the assertion that contractors are more interested in issues that will affect the project cost; the construction industry is not ignorant of the need to consider the environment, but their focus is different. iso 14001: the first two highest-ranked under iso 14001category are top management commitment and organisational waste objectives with mean scores of 3.42 and 3.18, respectively. this indicates that the importance of top management on ewmps is acknowledged by the respondents. waste management plans: respondents are not aware of almost all practices under this category. however, disposal at licensed sites ranked highest (3.30). further questioning revealed that most times, contractors do not measure or take cognisance of the waste being removed from their sites, and this can be the reasons for their unawareness of completion of consignment and transfer notes before waste leaves the site and other practices within waste management plans category. waste sorting: it can be observed that respondents are aware of the separation of inert and non-inert wastes on o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 23 sites (3.12). however, respondents are not aware of designated skips for different materials (2.58). waste collection and transportation: respondents are aware of all practices under this category since contractors must ensure that waste is packed and evacuated from their sites. waste recycling and recovery: respondents are not aware of all the four strategies under this category. this finding validates the work of wahab and lawal (2011) that reuse and recycling are new practices in nigeria. revitalisation: respondents are not aware of the neutralisation of chemically harmful materials on site (2.67) but are aware of replanting trees and vegetation (3.11). further questioning revealed that neutralisation of chemically harmful materials on site is not really a needed practice on c as respondents do not deal with many chemicals on sites. the awareness of replanting trees and vegetation is heightened through the greener initiatives of programmes of lagos state government. waste incineration: respondents are not aware of waste incineration (2.72). as earlier mentioned, the removal of construction waste from their sites is usually outsourced. incineration is one of the treatments on construction waste after leaving sites. waste material recovery facility: it can be observed that transportation of waste to waste material recovery facility has a low level of awareness (2.49). this could be because waste recovery is new. waste behaviour: it was discovered that most respondents are aware of waste consequences and taking responsibilities for others well-being (3.51), and cost savings from waste reduction made beneficial to all site management staff (3.14) under this category. the awareness of waste behaviour may be due to health and safety concerns on sites. air quality strategy: most of the respondents are aware of dust reduction measures during construction (3.91), and the maximum level of emission is considered for development approval in each local council (3.09) under this category. further questioning revealed that some legislation directs operational approaches, such as equipment types that can be used to limit environmental disturbance. it can be implied that government legislation has aided the awareness of the two practices in this category. vegetation preservation: the respondents are aware of the preservation of existing vegetations (3.46). further questioning revealed that the awareness had been heightened through the greener lagos initiatives programme of the lagos state government. polluter pays principle: this principle requires that waste generators pay for disposal of unrecoverable waste. it was found out that the respondents are not aware of it (2.56). it ranked 43rd in the overall ranking of the 47 practices. building materials exchange/recyclers’ association: the awareness of this practice is low among the respondents (1.82). in nigeria, it is scavengers that recycle building materials (kofoworola, 2006). in conclusion, out of the 15 ewmps categories, the respondents are aware of seven categories waste accommodation and storage (3.71), zero-waste (3.70), air quality strategy (3.50), vegetation preservation (3.46), waste collection and transportation (3.43), waste behaviour (3.33) and iso 14001 (3.01). it can be observed that they are not aware of the remaining eight categories of ewmps because their overall means are less than 3. similarly, out of the 47 mps, the respondents are aware of 28 ewmps, the ewmp with the highest level of awareness is good site material storage while belong to a material exchange/recyclers association is the least. 4.3 usage of environmental waste management practices the mean of items listed as environmental waste management practices was used to rank the usage of the practices by the respondents in order to determine the application of the environmental waste management practices on construction site by nigerian contractors. respondents were asked to indicate their implementation of 47 ewmps using a 5-point likert scale. the criterion used to determine applied ewmps on construction site by the respondents are those variables whose mean scores are 3.00 and above, which represents ‘average usage’ on the scale. the 47 ewmps were categorised into 15; namely, zero waste, iso 14001, waste management plans, waste sorting, waste accommodation/storage, waste collection and transportation, waste recycling and recovery, revitalisation, waste incineration, waste material recovery facility, waste behaviour, air quality strategy, vegetation preservation, polluter pays principle and building materials exchange/recycler’s association. table 3: usage of environmental waste management practices s/n environmental waste management practices n 1 2 3 4 5 std mean gr or zero waste 3.67 1 good site material storage practice 57 0 0 6 27 24 .659 4.32 1 2 2 checking deliveries for any shortages and or damages 57 0 1 9 22 25 .786 4.25 2 3 3 ordering the required amount of materials as accurately as probable 57 0 2 13 20 22 .872 4.09 3 4 4 use of site materials control 57 0 2 14 28 13 .786 3.91 4 5 5 just in time delivery for a reduction in storage and materials losses 57 0 7 12 25 13 .945 3.77 5 7 6 use of fabrication, offsite prefabrication 57 0 3 22 21 11 .844 3.70 6 8 7 use of standard and realistic components 57 0 5 18 29 5 .776 3.60 7 11 8 designing out waste at the earliest stage of the construction process 57 2 9 14 28 4 .961 3.40 8 14 19 minimising temporary works 57 1 9 30 12 5 .875 3.19 9 18 10 no ‘throwing away waste’ 57 7 9 17 19 5 1.160 3.11 10 23 11 use of recyclable materials 57 4 10 29 7 7 1.042 3.05 11 25 iso 14001 2.92 12 top management commitment 57 2 13 13 22 7 1.075 3.33 1 16 24 o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 13 organisational waste objectives 57 4 11 22 17 3 .997 3.07 2 24 14 sources of materials considered if the company is certified with environmental standards 57 6 9 25 12 5 1.077 3.02 3 26 15 supply chain impact by communicating environmental impacts to suppliers 56 4 16 19 16 1 .966 2.89 4 28 16 staff training on waste 57 8 18 17 9 5 1.158 2.74 5 32 17 using designated waste management officer 57 11 21 15 7 3 1.104 2.47 6 41 waste management plans (wmps) 2.75 18 disposal at licensed sites 57 7 10 15 18 7 1.217 3.14 1 20 19 sanctions for poor waste disposal 57 4 10 24 12 7 1.076 3.14 1 20 20 use of waste carriers with valid waste carrier registration certification 57 10 11 21 12 3 1.134 2.77 3 31 21 information about the client, the principal contractor, the person that drafted the swmp 57 16 11 15 9 6 1.333 2.61 4 36 22 estimation and waste management action for each waste type 57 13 17 10 14 3 1.237 2.60 5 37 23 completion of consignment note before waste leaves the site 57 12 15 21 6 3 1.104 2.53 6 39 24 completion of transfer notes before waste leaves the site 57 12 18 17 8 1 1.042 2.43 7 44 waste sorting 2.79 25 separation of inert and non-inert wastes on sites 57 2 15 30 7 3 .859 2.89 1 28 26 designated skips for different materials 57 3 24 20 8 2 .909 2.68 2 34 waste accommodation/storage 4.05 27 high quality of housekeeping on site 57 2 14 24 16 1 4.063 4.49 1 1 28 site plan showing waste storage points 57 2 5 19 19 12 1.033 3.60 2 11 waste collection and transportation 3.33 29 waste packed manually into waste trucks 56 1 0 17 29 9 .773 3.80 1 6 30 waste collection planning 57 1 10 23 14 9 1.009 3.35 2 15 31 loading of waste truck mechanically 57 0 8 29 18 2 .739 3.25 3 17 32 use of hydraulic compactor 57 3 10 35 6 3 .842 2.93 4 27 waste recycling and recovery 2.44 33 reduction or recycling of the packaging for materials delivered 57 10 19 15 5 8 1.270 2.68 1 34 34 reuse: conversion of the waste stream into reuse pathway 57 6 23 22 4 2 .908 2.53 2 39 35 recycle: recovery of the value of waste stream for recycling purpose 57 7 23 20 7 0 .868 2.47 3 41 36 use of compact, self-contained mini crushers or mobile crusher for demolished concrete 57 14 27 13 3 0 .830 2.09 4 46 revitalisation 2.94 37 replanting trees and vegetation. 57 4 9 25 12 7 1.066 3.16 1 19 38 neutralisation of chemically harmful materials on site 57 8 12 26 10 1 .978 2.72 2 33 waste incineration 2.60 39 waste transported to incinerators 57 9 21 13 12 2 1.100 2.60 1 37 waste material recovery facility 2.47 40 waste is transported to waste material recovery facility 57 7 20 27 2 1 .826 2.47 1 41 waste behaviour 3.37 41 awareness of the consequences of waste and taking personal responsibility for others’ well being 57 1 4 19 25 8 .881 3.61 1 10 42 cost savings from waste reduction made beneficial to all site management staff 57 4 9 22 20 2 .965 3.12 2 22 air quality strategy 3.27 43 dust reduction measures during construction 57 1 3 16 30 7 .827 3.68 1 9 44 maximum level of emission is considered for development application approval in each local council 57 4 15 24 11 2 .943 2.86 2 30 vegetation preservation 3.48 45 preservation of existing vegetation 56 0 8 22 17 9 .934 3.48 13 polluter pays principle 2.42 46 requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of unrecoverable material (extended responsibility to the material manufacturer). 57 12 16 22 7 0 .963 2.42 45 building materials exchange/ recycler’s association 1.88 47 belong to a material exchange/recyclers’ association 57 27 14 12 4 0 .983 1.88 47 n= total respondents, 1 represents nil level, 2 represents low level, 3 represents average level, 4 represents high level, 5 represents very high level, mean, gr= group ranking, or= overall ranking the following can be observed from table 3: o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 25 zero waste: all the ewmps under this category are used, but good site material storage practice (4.32) and checking deliveries for shortages and damages (4.25) were the most used practices by the respondents. this agrees with the findings of adewuyi and odesola (2016) that the most commonly used waste minimisation strategies on-site are properly securing stores after closing hour daily and checks on deliveries for shortages and or damages. the usage of all practices under zero waste could be owing to the fact that these practices ensure the safety and security of materials against theft, damages and vandalism. it can be implied that physical profit is mostly thought of by construction firms to using ewmps. iso 14001: using designated waste management officer (2.47), staff training on waste (2.74), and supply chain impact by communicating environmental impacts to suppliers (2.89) are not used under this category. further questioning during the survey revealed some respondents' view that ewm usage has cost and time implication; therefore, ewm issues be added in contractual clauses. top management commitment (3.33) ranking highest is an indication that respondents appreciate the importance of top management. the commitment of top management is essential for ewmps (kareem et al., 2014). other practices that are used in this category are organisation waste objectives (3.07) and sources of materials considered if the company is certified with environmental standards (3.02). waste management plans (wmps): the usage of disposal at licensed sites (3.14) and sanctions for poor waste disposal (3.14) suggests that respondents agree that government legislation can influence the adoption of wmps; its adoption is backed with legislation in the uk. however, use of waste carriers with valid waste carrier registration certification (2.77), estimation and waste management action for each waste type (2.60), completion of consignment notes before waste leaves the site (2.53), and others are not used. further questioning revealed that most respondents are not sure of the destination of their waste. it can be implied that waste that leaves sites can be handled and dumped incongruously. also, no one can be held responsible since the processes are not documented; this practice is a reverse to the duty of care in the uk. details of duly licensed waste carrier and eventual waste destinations are recorded to ensure duty of care and prevent illegal dumping or other wrong wastes handling (papargyropoulou et al., 2011). the finding of this study shows that contractors do not use the practices of waste management plans (wmps) category (2.75). this differs from the findings of oladiran (2009b) that revealed average use of wmps on nigeria construction projects, but it aligns with papargyropoulou et al. (2011) that revealed a low level of awareness and adoption of swmps in malaysia. waste sorting: this category is not used on construction sites (2.79); the two practices examined in this category are not implemented on the sites investigated. designated skips for different materials is a practice that will require extra resources such as skips, and this can affect the contractors' profit. this finding supports the view of singaporean contractors who felt that ems could not be engaged owed to construction costs increase (ofori et al., 2002) cited in (ishola et al., 2015). some respondents claim that value is attached to metals in tons; the metals are carefully sorted out and sold to metal recyclers; this validates kareem et al. (2014) that individual judgment comes to play as regards value attached to reusable material. waste accommodation/storage: site plan showing storage points (3.60) and high quality of housekeeping on site (4.49) are used. this result agrees with sapuay (2016) that contractors uphold hygiene on sites by disposing waste away from their operational area. high quality of housekeeping on site is also a health and safety concern, as accidents on sites will cause delay, payment of insurance to the injured or on the dead, and cost on the organisation's reputation and so on. improper debris management has caused major environmental problems, hazards and accidents (papargyropoulou et al., 2011). waste collection and transportation: this category is used by the respondents (3.33). contractors’ duty is to ensure the removal of construction waste from the site. waste packed manually into the waste truck (3.80) ranked 1st in this category. however, the use of hydraulic compactor (2.93) ranked least, and this result can be due to the fact that contractors outsource the evacuation of construction waste from their sites, so the mechanical equipment is rarely used by contractors. waste recycling and recovery: all ewmps under this category are not used. this confirms the revelation by kofoworola (2006) that governments and waste management authorities in nigeria give inadequate attention to recycling and resource recovery. further questioning revealed that most construction and demolition works are usually sub-contracted; at times, construction waste is given out free on-demand by the local community, and the main contractors rarely attach commercial value to construction waste on-site, as the timely removal of the waste is of priority. contractors are more interested in the management of project deliverables, time, budget and quality. kamal (2009); ren et al. (2012) recommend the consideration of ‘environment’ as an additional criterion for project planning. some respondents claim that waste generation is avoided through accurate estimation of resources. waste is inevitable (wahab and lawal, 2011), and estimators’ allowances for materials waste are usually exceeded (odusami et al., 2012). revitalisation: neutralisation of chemically harmful materials on site (2.72) is not a practice that is applied. as already mentioned earlier, this result reflects the fact that many toxic elements are not used on construction sites. replanting trees and vegetation (3.16) is used; this could have been encouraged or enforced through the implementation of the greener initiative programmes of the lagos state government. waste incineration: this category is not a used ewmp (2.60). as earlier mentioned, the evacuation of waste is mostly outsourced to a third party. lagos state waste management agency is sometimes employed; however, most respondents are not sure if waste carriers are certified or not; this implies that most respondents neither contribute to the actions taken on their wastes offsite nor aware of the waste destination; this is a defeat to the purpose of ewm. waste management (wm) is ensuring that waste is removed from the place of generation, treated 26 o. j. oladiran et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).17-27 and disposed of or recycled safely (demirbas, 2010). with proper research, a contractual relationship for successful implementation of wm practice can be negotiated with waste service providers (davidson, 2011). the principles of waste material management must be communicated to design and construction teams and also the wm contractors in order to experience the full benefits of good wmmps (wrap, n.d.). waste behaviour: awareness of the consequences of waste and taking personal responsibility for others’ wellbeing (3.61); and cost savings from waste reduction made beneficial to all site management staff (3.12) are used in this category. air quality strategy: dust reduction measures during construction (3.86) are used by the contractors on sites, while maximum level of emission is considered for development application is not used (2.86). further questioning revealed that the state government regulates the use of equipment on construction sites. vegetation preservation: this practice is applied on construction sites (3.48). the usage level must have been heightened because of the lagos state government greener initiative programme. polluter pays principle: this is not used on construction sites (2.42). the construction waste disposal charging scheme (cwdcs) introduced in hong kong in 2006 has made the contractors embrace on-site waste sorting practice, reuse, recycling of c and d waste (wahi et al., 2015). building materials exchange/recyclers’ association: this is not a used ewmp on the sites. belong to a material exchange/recyclers’ association ranked least in the overall (1.82). this result indicates that ‘building materials exchange’ is not trendy among professionals, and this supports kofoworola (2006) that scavengers pick items for recycling on dumpsites in lagos. the recycling industry has over 2million informal waste pickers worldwide (hoornweg and bhada-tata, 2012). 5. conclusions the study investigates the ewmps of contractors on construction sites in lagos. survey research was used to carry out the study. the following conclusions are drawn on the findings of the study: 1. contractors are aware of 28 ewmps and use 26 on construction sites out of 47 ewmps that were investigated. it implies that the awareness of the ewmps determines their usage. if the awareness is increased, the implementation will be improved. 2. waste accommodation/storage practice is the most used ewmps, while building materials exchange/recyclers association is not a practice among contractors. it implies that a lot of waste will still be generated on sites because storage induces wastages. 6. recommendations the following recommendations are based on the conclusions drawn from the findings of the study: 1. professionals should increase their awareness and usage of some neglected ewmps. this can be achieved through construction firms, governments and institutions sponsoring the training of professionals on mps. seminars and conferences can also be organised by these bodies. 2. polluter pays principle and recyclers' association should be enforced in project implementations. this can be achieved through governments legislations and policies for project procurements.. references adewuyi, t. o. & odesola, i. a. 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(2018). concept of zero waste and role of material recovery facility. retrieved from https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/zerowaste-mrf2018 zero waste scotland (n.d.) best practice guide to improving waste management on construction sites. resource efficient scotland. retrieved from https://www.resourceefficientsotland. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ejesm.v5i4.5%20done51 http://www.netregs.gov.uk/media/1114/swmp_sim http://www.netregs.org.uk/ http://www.calmdownmind.com/what https://www.resourceefficientsotland/ jcbm (2020) 4(1). 48-59 addressing constraints for effective project finance for infrastructure projects in emerging economies – the case of zimbabwe m.f. tshehla1 and , e. mukudu2 1 & 2 graduate school of business leadership, university of south africa, south africa received 1 august 2019; received in revised form 3 october 2019 and 3 april 2020; accepted 10 april 2020. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.806 abstract the infrastructure deficit in developing countries is vast and current developmental initiatives fail to meet the requirements. there is a need for housing, clean water, sewerage facilities, transport and telecommunications infrastructure. the development of infrastructure requires large amounts of funding, which could be a project or non-recourse finance. the levels of project finance allocated to developing countries are much smaller compared to the developed world. the purpose of this paper is to determine the critical success factors for accessing project finance for infrastructure development in a developing country, zimbabwe. this study employed the quantitative approach using a survey questionnaire to address various aspects that are important when lenders advance project finance. the questionnaire was distributed to participating organizations comprised of lenders, borrowers and investors with the higher numbers being borrowers. these organizations include banks in zimbabwe that offer project finance for infrastructure, pension funds which invest in infrastructure, multilateral agencies operating in zimbabwe, and municipalities of major cities in zimbabwe. the interrater reliability of the individual factors was calculated. also, the aggregate interrater reliability for the different attributes was determined using cronbach's alpha value. a total of 33 factors under five attributes were identified: governmental, financing, project, special purpose vehicle, and politics and economics were identified as being critical for accessing project finance. these factors were ranked according to their significance index or importance. only 12 factors were considered as extremely important as critical success factors for project financing in zimbabwe. the contribution of this study is to provide government, project finance agencies, private sector and other stakeholders interested in infrastructure projects with a list of the most important critical success factors for infrastructure projects in a developing country. keywords: critical success factors, infrastructure development, infrastructure projects, project attributes, project finance 1. introduction the infrastructure deficit in developing countries is enormous, and current developmental initiatives fail to meet the requirements. there is a need for housing, clean water, sewerage facilities, transport and telecommunications infrastructure. in some countries, for instance, the only form of transport connecting major centres is air travel because there is no road network linking the towns. this affects trade on many levels as there is no free movement of goods and people. countries such as zimbabwe are strategically located and can and act as goods in transit hub between south africa and countries to the north. zimbabwe faces several infrastructure challenges, mostly in the power and water 1 corresponding author. email address: makgopa@hotmail.com sectors, where deteriorating conditions pose risks to the economy and public health (pushak and briceñogarmendia, 2012). zimbabwe has struggled to attract foreign direct investment (fdi) as well as project finance, therefore, failing to implement much-needed infrastructure projects. these include the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and construction of new infrastructure. while the link between infrastructure and economic development is often subject to debate, it cannot be disputed that the availability of infrastructure will facilitate trade. increased trade, in turn, can lead to economic growth. a world bank report has suggested that a 1% increase in the infrastructure stock leads to a corresponding 1% growth university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1. mailto:makgopa@hotmail.com 50 m.f. tshehla and , e. mukudu / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 in the gross domestic product (gdp) of the country (pushak and briceño-garmendia, 2012). the purpose of this study is to determine the factors that are critical for accessing project finance in a developing country. a country like zimbabwe needs to spend $2 billion per annum up to 2021 to reduce its infrastructure deficit (pushak and briceño-garmendia, 2012). it appears that generally, the countries that have the highest infrastructure deficits tend to be also the ones that are less able to access project finance (yescombe, 2013). access to project finance for infrastructure development is an essential facet of economic development needed in developing countries. several critical infrastructure projects in zimbabwe and other developing countries fail to take off or are not completed due to lack of project finance. these countries end up abandoning these projects or using other means of financing that are costly and detrimental to their economies in the longer run. this study seeks to determine critical success factors for access to project finance to assist zimbabwe to implement infrastructure projects. 2. literature review some studies have been carried for various aspects of project finance in infrastructure development (kumari and sharma, 2017; osei-kyei and chan, 2015). these studies considered literature from the early 1990s to 2015 and have identified 149 published articles of utter importance. this study may not be exhaustive, but it extensively covered the published materials and gave a good indication of the state of affairs on infrastructurebased research. the study showed that project finance for infrastructure had received the lion's share of the research on infrastructure at 36%, closely followed by the role of infrastructure at 29% of the published articles. in infrastructure financing research, the covered areas are majorly public funding, private funding, foreign direct investment, public-private partnerships, risk mitigation and innovation in project finance. the participation of private capital in infrastructure development is very much an essential aspect of project finance. this form of participation usually involves project finance and is mostly referred to as a public private partnership (ppp). the debt, equity and mezzanine portions have private businesses participating in the form of banks, insurance companies and pension funds. the studies on public private partnership (ppp) therefore interrogated how certain conditions within the different markets impacted on successful implementation. the nature and scope of ppp arrangements may vary, but this partnership will likely continue to subsist and grow into the future. the use of ppp has been studied extensively in the literature (sharma, 2012; ameyaw, chan and owusumanu, 2017; zangoueinezhad and azar, 2014; wibowo, 2015; ahmadabadi and heravi, 2019; sarmento and renneboog, 2016). sharma (2012) investigated the factors that determine ppp in infrastructure-based mainly on data from developing countries for the period 1990 to 2008. the research outcomes suggest that the size of the country and income of the market has a bearing on the chances of attracting successful ppp deals. other studies on ppp looked at the contribution of ppp to economic growth (zangoueinezhad and azar, 2014). they realized that three factors of the ppp affect economic growth. namely, the number of ppp projects underway, the value of the project and the ideal type of ppp contracts in place. sarmento and renneboog (2016) researched the anatomy of ppp about the renegotiation of the contracts. this article suggests the high prevalence of renegotiation of ppp contracts. while some renegotiations are generally provided for in the contract, a high prevalence has been observed. the article sought to delve into the reasons for the renegotiations using case study research for two projects in portugal. the case studies looked at two projects that had very different outcomes from the renegotiations, one beneficial and the other detrimental. the article also noted some of the pitfalls of ppp where a winning bidder can become opportunistic. they will find themselves in a situation where they are virtually a monopoly and use this opportunity to renegotiate more favourable terms for themselves. this would not be expected in the face of competition. a review was conducted on ppp with a specific focus on zimbabwe (zinyama and nhema, 2015). the study was an attempt to weigh into the debate on ppp, global practices, and also looking at the case of zimbabwe. the study's findings were that there is a low uptake of ppp in zimbabwe as a result of the lack of legal and institutional structures for ppp. there have been attempts in zimbabwe to put up the necessary framework to facilitate the employment of ppp. these efforts have not gone far enough and remain largely unimplemented according to the research. zimbabwe was the setting for this research study. 2.1 infrastructure development in developing countries population growth, especially in the emerging markets, has created an infrastructure deficit that will require annual expenditure on the infrastructure of $2.6 trillion for the next twenty years (mostafavi et al., 2014). the united states of america on its own is estimated to require a total of $3.6 trillion from 2013 to 2018, for the rehabilitation and improvement of the ageing infrastructure (mostafavi et al., 2014). the available resources and what is required to bridge the infrastructure gap do not match, leading to challenges in accessing finance. project finance has been employed successfully in both the developed and developing countries to provide infrastructure. it has been extensively applied in the developed world in which the participation of private capital is encouraged through ppp. likewise, it has also been applied widely in developing countries, although at a much lower scale in comparison. traditionally the function to develop infrastructure has typically been that of the government of the particular country. some of the infrastructures are part of what is known as public goods. citizens pay tax to the government, and in return, they expect the provision of public goods by the government in the form of roads, schools, airports, hospitals and telecommunication networks. this is the sort of model that has been employed over time by many countries. most of the governments controlled these assets through ownership of vertically integrated utilities and other entities. in zimbabwe, such m. tshehla and , e. mukudu./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 51 utilities are organizations like the zimbabwe electricity supply authority (zesa), telone, zimbabwe national roads authority (zinara). they are all wholly owned by the government, although they run like private companies with a board of directors and executive management, most of whom are government appointees. although they are supposed to be autonomous in the manner in which they are run, most of these companies in most countries are mere extensions of government departments. it is also important to note that some of the infrastructure or public goods are monopolistic, for instance, the power supplied by a public utility. however, the expectation that governments on their own will be able to provide infrastructure has proven to be difficult and even impossible, given the fiscal constraints in many countries. budget constraints, past experiments of inadequate public spending and inefficiencies in managing infrastructure on the public side have led to a reconsideration of the need to shift the investment effort to the private sector and the development of ppps (della croce and gatti, 2014). this is particularly true in developing countries where resources are minimal, and revenues from tax alone are insufficient to address the infrastructure needs. as a result, there is a huge infrastructure deficit in developing countries which manifests itself in the form of limited access to water, power, poor or no communications and traffic congestion in urban areas. in some countries, major urban centres can only be accessed by air because no road networks are linking these towns. shortage of social infrastructure is also prevalent, leading to limited or no access to health facilities and educational facilities. the involvement of private capital is therefore necessary and inevitable. it has been demonstrated that the participation of private companies in the development of infrastructure also results in the improvement of skills and project quality. it is estimated that developing countries will require $1 trillion in annual infrastructure expenditure until 2020 (report from world bank group, 2013 cited in yusupov and abdullah, 2014). in their literature review on infrastructure and project finance, kumari and sharma (2017) observed that in most research, although several studies have been done on infrastructure, the dominant discussion has been how to arrange more finance for infrastructure development. many articles have been published on physical infrastructure like transportation, telecommunications, power and irrigation (sharma, 2012; ameyaw et al., 2017; zangoueinezhad and azar, 2014; wibowo, 2015; ahmadabadi and heravi, 2019; sarmento and renneboog, 2016); there is very little published research on social infrastructure (kumari and sharma, 2017). review of literature also revealed a correlation between the availability of physical infrastructure and economic growth. other studies have also shown that electricity is an essential element for improving living standards, thus facilitating national economic development (kale and pohekar, 2012). this is easy to comprehend in that most of the industrial machinery used in the production of goods runs on electrical power. the transport sector was also noted as being crucial for economic development in some of the studies (carbonara et al., 2015; babatunde and perera, 2017). infrastructure facilitates the movement of goods, services and people. this sector requires significant amounts of investment, and in some studies, investors were reluctant to invest in road networks due to the long construction periods. the research on private, public partners has also been pervasive covering both developed as well as developing countries. the ppp model stem out of a need for alternative funding for infrastructure due to the inadequacy of public funding. the literature on ppp for infrastructure has involved studies on risk management (carbonara et al., 2015; crăciun, 2011), implementation constraints in ppp projects (osei-kyei and chan, 2017), the impact of ppp on project costs (deng et al.,2016). the use of project finance for infrastructure development in developing countries has been widespread and successful. developing countries in east asia and south america have been utilizing much of the project finance, as indicated by the higher capital flows to these countries (yescombe, 2013). the share of the project finance for sub-saharan africa for the years 2003 – 2013 was only 3% of the world total. during those years, the infrastructure projects for the region benefitted from a debt of $59 billion, whereas the world total was $2 trillion (dornel, 2014). the leading countries in accessing this project finance in africa are nigeria, south africa, ghana, and angola. project finance is seen as a solution to the funding problems facing developed and developing countries (yusupov and abdullah, 2014; munzara, 2015). innovative financing sources that employ financial engineering tools are finding wide application in projects in developing countries. project finance is one of these sources of financing that combines both financial engineering and innovative financing features (yusupov and abdullah, 2014). the project finance contribution to the development of infrastructure in zimbabwe is unknown as there are currently no published articles on this area. 2.2 studies on the risk assessment and mitigation in project finance project finance has an inherent risk that must be mitigated to attract the interest of lenders and investors alike. the fact that this type of financing is non-recourse complicates rather than making matters easier. some studies have also focused on the issue of risk involved in project finance for developing countries (crăciun, 2011; srivastava, 2014; babatunde and perera, 2017). the identification of risks, assessment of their impact and mitigation is an essential aspect of project finance. the formation of the project company or special purpose vehicle (spv) is one of the risk mitigation initiatives. the success of any financial deal rests upon future cash flows of the project. the creation of the spv is a way of ringfencing project cash flows and assets (yescombe, 2013). this, according to srivastava (2014), provides bankruptcy remoteness of the project and its assets from financial problems the sponsors may have. the reverse benefit for the sponsors is that they do not have the project difficulties contaminating their existing balance sheets. this aspect encourages sponsors to venture into projects under this arrangement as they do not fear that the failure of the project will affect their 52 m.f. tshehla and , e. mukudu / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 existing businesses. srivastava (2014) also gave a brief insight into how lenders appraise risks for project finance. the study noted that banks in india identify project risks and appraise them then categorize them into high, medium and low risk based on the probability of the risk factor happening and the severity of the impact. another study by babatunde and perera (2017) looked at the risks involved in traffic revenue for road projects under the build operate and transfer (bot) model. in the bot model, where the project cash flows arise from user payments, traffic volumes must be predicted during the project conception. these predictions or estimates may be far from the truth during the operation phase. if they are lower than predicted, then the project will be in trouble, and so this is a risk that must be considered and mitigated. the users may also refuse to pay, and the e-tolls in south africa is a case in point. babatunde and perera (2017) identified 25 risk factors to road traffic revenues, and 13 of these were considered to be critical. the top five most risks include loss due to adverse government decisions/policies, loss due to resistance to pay, faulty project structuring, politically motivated resistance, and government inaction due to political/social reasons. therefore, risks are real impediments to the implementation of project finance for infrastructure development. the risks must, therefore, be mitigated effectively to allow structuring of project finance deals. the share of projects finance that ends up in the developing countries is minimal in comparison to the developed world. sub-saharan africa, which is one of the least developed continents, only had 3% of the project finance in the years between 2003 and 2013 (dornel, 2014). the influence of political and other risks on the ability to develop countries to access project finance is an area that still needs to be explored. several studies have been conducted in sub saharan africa on the various aspects of the employment of project finance in infrastructure development. these included the state of project finance research (kumari et al., 2016), the critical success factors for accessing project finance (babatunde et al., 2012; ameyaw et al., 2016; sharma, 2012), the barriers to accessing project finance (babatunde et al., 2015; badu et al., 2012), risk mitigation in project finance deals (crăciun, 2011; srivastava, 2014; babatunde and pererab, 2017), the application of innovation in the provision of project finance (mostafavi et al. 2014; annamalai and hari, 2016). however, it is clear from the literature that a few of the studies cited cover zimbabwe specifically, and this was the subject of this research. 3. research methodology this study employed a quantitative approach to investigate and gather data on project financing in a developing country. 3.1. questionnaire development and administration a questionnaire was prepared for this research based on the aspects usually considered necessary by project finance providers. previous studies on the subject matter were also considered when designing the questionnaire (ameyaw et al., 2017; al-shareem and yusof, 2015; wibowo and alfen, 2015; swamy et al., 2018). the questionnaire employed in this research was carefully crafted and the quality checked by individuals with knowledge on the subject matter. this is the approach that was employed for this research to solicit responses that assisted in answering the research questions. the questionnaire had some sections dealing with different aspects of the research. the first part of the questionnaire comprised of questions that sought to gather information on participating organizations and respondents. the intention was to distribute the questionnaire to people with knowledge and experience on project finance and could, therefore, comment appropriately. the second section consisted of various aspects that are considered to be important when lenders advance project finance. these aspects are project attributes, government attributes, financing attributes, political and economic attributes, and special purpose vehicle attributes. the respondents were asked to rate various important factors that fall under the attributes documented above according to their importance for accessing project finance. the opinions of people considered experts on the subject matter were sought through their responses on a set of questions posed in a questionnaire. the questionnaire was pre-tested to assist in determining whether: i. the instructions of the questionnaire were easy to follow and understand. ii. the statement sequence is logical. iii. the language and wording were understandable. this method offered the benefit of providing information on large groups of people with ease and convenience in a timely and cost-effective manner. the questionnaires made it possible to determine the most important factors for those who offer project finance. 3.2. data collection the data was collected from organizations in zimbabwe involved with infrastructure development or in the provision of project finance. the research sought to establish the reasons for the failure to access project finance. there were two groups involved in this study, those who use the project finance and those who provide it. a questionnaire was sent out to all parties concerned who are; i. banks operating in zimbabwe that ordinarily would offer project finance for infrastructure. ii. pension funds which invest in infrastructure. iii. multilateral agencies operating in zimbabwe and the region iv. municipalities of the major cities in zimbabwe; v. parastatal organizations; the data was drawn from both the lenders and the borrowers of project finance. survey questionnaires were distributed electronically, and also hard copies were delivered to the sample population, requesting them to participate in the survey. respondents were required to submit the questionnaires within 15 days after receiving them. m. tshehla and , e. mukudu./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 53 3.3. data analysis the completed questionnaires were checked for any obvious errors. any clarification required was sought from the respondents. the questionnaires were coded with respondents being identified as aa001 to aa00n the last number. the various responses on the likert scale were coded with numbers from 1 to 5 or as appropriate. the data was then entered onto an excel workbook. worksheets were created in the workbook, each one representing each of the attributes. the data was thoroughly checked for transcription errors before any evaluation was done. the study was descriptive, as it sought to establish the relationship between the conditions within the country and the attitudes of organizations and investors to get involved in infrastructure development. a significance index was calculated from the responses given by the respondents according to the formula below (ameyaw et al., 2017); 𝑆𝐼𝑖 = ∑ 𝑎𝑖 × 𝑋𝑖 5 (1) where sii is the significant factor for the ith factor, ai is the constant applied to the ith response, for example, ai = 1 extremely low significance and ai = 5 is extremely high significance, these are the extreme ends of the likert scale. xi = ni/n, where ni is the variable expressing the frequency of the ith factor and n is the number of respondents. the significance index is categorized according to jannadi (1996), si >0.57 is significant, and it is called critical success factor, si < 0.57 are not regarded as critical, and si>0.86 is extremely significant. the reliability of a measurement refers to the ability to produce the same result over repeated measurements consistently. the interrater reliability of the individual factors was calculated. besides, the aggregate interrater reliability for the different attributes was also determined using cronbach's alpha value. this was calculated from the analysis of variance (anova) two factor without replication from excel. the interrater reliability values were also calculated using the formula below (ameyaw et al., 2017); α = 1 − 2 × 𝑆𝑋 2 [(𝐻 + 𝐿)𝑀 − ( 𝑀2) − (𝐻 × 𝐿)] × [ 𝑘 𝑘 − 1 ] (2) where: s2x is the average variance of the critical success factors, α is the interrater agreement, h is the highest value of the measurement scale, l is the lowest value of the measurement scale, m is the mean score, k is the number of respondents the study used interrater reliability measurement guided by lebreton and senter (2008), 0.00 0.3 (lack of agreement), 0.31 0.50 (weak agreement), 0.51 0.70 (moderate agreement), 0.71 0.90 (strong agreement) and 0.91 1.00 (very strong agreement). the cut-off point greater than 0.70 for interrater reliability, denotes a high level of agreement among the survey respondents (brown and hauenstein, 2005). 4. results and discussions the participating organizations consisted of lenders, borrowers and investors with the greater numbers being borrowers as depicted in table 1. while the population may not be as representative a sample as desired, the research covered the important groups that are involved with project finance in zimbabwe. table 1: the distribution of participating organizations type of organization number of organizations number of respondents lender 1 2 borrower 3 9 investor 1 1 other 0 0 table 2: the loan tenure preference according to participants loan tenure preference number of respondents less than 10 years 0 11-15 years 6 16-20 years 1 greater than 20 years 6 it was observed that the respondents from the same organization indicated different loan tenure preferences. the results are presented in table 2 above, which indicates that the preferred loan tenures are generally long, the most prevalent being 11-15 years, followed by greater than 20 years. this is consistent with the loan tenures usually encountered in project finance for infrastructure development (pinto, 2017; yescombe, 2013). 4.1 individual participant information the individual participants were required to indicate their qualifications and years of experience with project finance. this was used to gauge their level of knowledge and experience with project finance. this would also generally indicate their ability to comment competently on factors affecting the access to project finance. the respondents possess degrees from tertiary institutions. the respondents with bachelors' degrees were 46% while the rest have masters' degrees. the results show that 31% of the respondents have less than five years of project finance experience, while 38% have between 11-15 years' experience. it can, therefore, be inferred from the above that the respondents had sufficient knowledge of project finance to comment on its attributes and application. 4.2 data reliability the cronbach alpha index measured the reliability of the data. the cronbach alpha index is a way in which interrater reliability is verified. this research looked at factors that were considered to be critical for accessing project finance, and these were grouped into five categories namely, project attributes, government attributes, financing attributes, political and economic attributes and the special purpose vehicle attributes. the cronbach alpha values were calculated for the above 54 m.f. tshehla and , e. mukudu / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 attributes based on the responses given by the respondents and are presented in table 3. table 3: the cronbach’s alpha values for the attributes studied attribute alpha value data reliability project attributes 0.61 questionable government attributes 0.74 acceptable financing attributes 0.89 good political and economic attributes 0.60 questionable special purpose vehicle attributes 0.94 excellent the results in the table above indicate that the responses obtained for project and, political and economic attributes are questionable based on the interpretation of the cronbach's alpha values. the rest of the data for the other attributes has been rated from acceptable to excellent. the questionable attributes seem to have very divergent respondent views on the factors in question but do not seem to apply universally. the interrater reliability value has also been calculated and interpreted for the individual factors. the individual results for each of the factors are discussed below for all the attributes studied. the review of the individual factor reliability results can give a better indication of what is affecting the aggregate results for the different attributes. 4.3 validity of results the questionnaire was administered in a limited duration of time, and its contents were not changed. respondents were also not affected by the history of having been given the same questionnaire before this research. the respondents who are also considered experts in the subject matter understood the questions in the survey questionnaire. this can be taken as a sign of construct validity. the other matters related to the administering of the questionnaire are also part of the internal validity of the research. this research is, therefore considered to be valid. 4.4 projects attribute results the project attribute is at the centre of all activities related to project finance. the project is why financial resources are required, and its characteristics, therefore, may determine access to the project finance. this research would not be possible or make any sense without looking at the project attributes. there were 11 factors examined under project attributes and out of these, there were three attributes in which respondents agreed and strongly agreed with their importance. these are profitability of the projects and demand for the infrastructure, revenue realized from the project and project repayment period. while the majority of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the importance of the other factors, there was also notable numbers of neutral respondents who neither agreed nor disagreed. these ranged from 8% to 25%. concerning the factors of on-time completion of the project and completion time of the project, 8% of the respondents even disagreed that these were important in accessing project finance. the highest numbers of neutral responses were for the factors related to minimization of risk and the nature of the concession agreement being important to accessing project finance. table 4: the interrater reliability values for the different factors for the project attributes project attributes ira the repayment period 0.71 the revenue to be realized by the project 0.44 the profitability of the project and demand for the infrastructure 0.61 the cost of the project 0.65 the scope of the project 0.65 the construction period of the project 0.57 the concession period of the project 0.65 the on-time completion of the project 0.27 the project risk (minimization of risk) 0.33 the nature of the concession agreement 0.33 the existence of an insurance coverage 0.57 the interrater reliability values obtained for the factors under the project attribute show a general acceptable trend except for nature of the concession agreement, minimization of project risk, the on-time completion of the project and the revenue to be realized by the project, which are all unacceptable. the factor for the revenue to be realized has a high level of respondents agreeing that it is essential for accessing project finance and it is surprising to find it in the list of factors where interrater reliability is deemed unacceptable. this factor shows a very low level of variance of responses and the expectation would be that the interrater reliability would be acceptable. there was strong unanimous agreement among respondents that the revenue to be realized from the project was necessary for accessing project finance. 4.5 governmental attributes results the government is a significant stakeholder in the provision of infrastructure in a country. this includes acting as the sponsor of public infrastructure and providing guarantees when required in ppp deals. it also sets the environment in which project finance deals are negotiated and agreed in so many ways. under the government attributes, ten factors were considered and out of these 6 had an outright agreement, that they were important for accessing project finance. these are the existence of government guarantees, availability of tax exemption or reduction, the existence of government control and charges, the availability of government permits and approval, clarity of government objectives and the existence of a favourable legal framework that is enforced. it may not be difficult to see why these are important as they have a direct bearing on the success of the project. the interrater reliability values for factors under the government attributes were all generally found to be acceptable or higher except the stability of the government factor, which was questionable. the m. tshehla and , e. mukudu./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 55 responses from the respondents under this attribute can, therefore, be reviewed without suspicion and be considered reliable. there was very good agreement among respondents for the following factors, the existence of a favourable legal framework that is enforced, the clarity of government objectives, the availability of government permits and approval and the existence of government guarantees. these factors can be considered to strengthen the rights of lenders and investors as well as facilitating the implementation of the project. the factor on the existence of government control and charges received the highest proportion of neutral responses (50%) than any other factor in the questionnaire. a high number of neutral respondents indicates some level of ambiguity in the question or lack of knowledge on the part of respondents regarding the enquiry. the other half of the respondents indicated that this factor was necessary for accessing project finance. table 5: the interrater reliability values for the factors under the governmental attribute government attributes ira the existence of government guarantees 0.76 availability of tax exemption or reduction 0.72 the existence of an incentive for new market penetration 0.63 the availability of government permit and approval 0.76 the existence of government control and charges 0.73 the existence of government support for supply and distribution 0.69 the stability of the government 0.51 the clarity of government objectives 0.71 the existence of a favourable legal framework that is enforced 0.82 the existence of a committed public agency as part of infrastructure development 0.65 4.6 financing attributes results the financing attribute in this research is concerned with the factors involving the financial characteristics of project finance. the financial resources required for implementing the project are advanced under a set of conditions agreed upon by the contractual parties, the lenders, investors and the borrowers. some of these conditions are exogenous to the parties involved in the deals. in this research, nine factors were studied under the financing attribute. out of the nine factors, four of them had a strong agreement among respondents that they are essential for accessing projects finance. these are the equity repayment period, the currency exchange rate, the interest rate and the inflation rate. the rest of the factors while having the majority of the respondents agreeing on their importance for accessing project finance, there was a fair amount of neutral responses ranging from 8% to 17%. no respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the importance of the factors the interrater reliability values for the different factors were generally in the acceptable range except a few that were questionable. these were the available financial market, the internal rate of return of the project, the payment mechanism and the interest rate. the data for the financing attribute factors can generally be taken to be acceptable. table 6: the interrater reliability values for the factors in financing attributes financing attributes ira the inflation rate 0.71 the interest rate 0.52 currency exchange rate 0.71 high equity to debt ratio 0.72 the payment mechanism 0.57 the internal rate of return of the project 0.40 the return on equity of the project 0.66 the equity repayment period of the project 0.71 the available financial market 0.57 4.7 political and economic attributes results the political and economic attributes of the project are very important for its success. many projects have run into problems because of a lack of appropriate consideration for these attributes. four factors were selected for these attributes and respondents asked to rate their importance. the results indicate strong agreement on the importance of factors on the political and economic stability of the country and an effective market for the project outputs. while the responses for the other two factors have an overall agreement for the social acceptability of the project and the existence of political support for the project, there are significant neutral responses and disagreements. table 7: the interrater reliability values: factors in the political and economic attributes political and economic attributes ira the existence of political support for the project 0.51 the social acceptability of the project 0.65 the political and economic stability of the country 0.61 an effective market for the project outputs 0.66 the interrater reliability values for the factors considered lie in the questionable to acceptable categories. the factor on the existence of political support for the project has a questionable reliability value. again it may be a question of ambiguity that has returned a response that disagrees with its importance in the accessing of project finance. 4.8 special purpose vehicle (spv) attributes results in the context of project management, a special purpose vehicle is a company created for the specific purpose to implement and manage the project. its functions will depend on the scope and model of the project. this is done for several reasons chief among them, the ringfencing of the project revenues and creating bankruptcy remoteness between the project and its sponsors (yescombe, 2013). this arrangement benefits both the project company as well as the sponsors’ other business operations. respondents were asked about the importance of a special purpose vehicle in accessing project finance. while the majority was in agreement with its importance, a significant number (42%) were neutral, not agreeing or disagreeing with its importance. this may not be a question of ambiguity as with other previous cases of 56 m.f. tshehla and , e. mukudu / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 factors. the infrastructure projects that have been implemented in zimbabwe may not have followed this model in the past. a good number of them have been run from government departments or the project departments of state-owned enterprises or local authorities. table 8: interrater reliability results for the factor on the existence of the spv special purpose vehicle ira existence of special purpose vehicle 0.74 the interrater reliability value for the factor on the existence of a special purpose vehicle lies in the acceptable category. this means the responses given can be taken as being reliable for this factor. the nature of the project company or special purpose vehicle (spv) can take many shapes or forms. the characteristics of the spv may, therefore, have a bearing on the ability of the project to access project finance. nineteen factors were examined under the spv attribute, and all of them had high levels of agreement. table 9: the interrater reliability results for the spv factors special purpose vehicle attributes ira the size of the company 0.85 the type of company 0.85 the technical expertise available in the project company 0.40 the resources available in the project company 0.65 the legal structure of the project company 0.60 the financial strength of the company 0.65 the return on asset of the project company 0.65 the projected cash flow of the project 0.47 the contractor's liquidity 0.54 the existence and magnitude of outstanding loans of the project company 0.33 the debt level of the project 0.60 the reputation of the project company 0.80 the level of project management experience 0.57 the strong commercial track record of the project team members 0.60 familiarity with industry and client 0.90 the quality of subcontractors 0.87 the level of management skills in the project company 0.80 the existence of good corporate governance 0.57 the existence of financial management knowledge in the project company 0.65 however, all the factors also had significant amounts of neutral responses. this may be because there were a significant number of neutral responses to the factor regarding the existence of the spv. it may follow that if one is neutral about the existence of the spv, one may also become neutral on the characteristics of the spv. however, the magnitude of the neutral responses is not uniform and is varying from factor to factor, and their percentages are from 8% to 58%. this may be an indication that the respondents were considering each factor individually in most cases. the factors on the type and size of the spv were the ones where the most neutral respondents were obtained. this tends to point to a perspective by the respondents that these factors may not be essential in accessing project finance. however, they have not expressed strong sentiments in this regard. the overall verdict is that the factors under this attribute were generally found to be essential for accessing project finance according to the respondents. the interrater reliability values indicate that the respondents produced reliable results except for the factors on the existence and magnitude of outstanding loans of the spv, the projected cash flow of the project and the technical expertise of the spv. these factors are characterized by higher levels of variance in comparison to the other factors under the spv attribute. 4.9 the critical success factors the factors studied under the different attributes cannot be assumed to be equally important to the study. this research suffered a major setback in that there was a high rate of poor interrater reliability. the number of factors that were investigated in this study was 54, and out of this 21 did not pass the interrater reliability test giving compliance of 61%. the factors that did not pass the interrater reliability test though important for the study were excluded in the final analysis. the remaining 33 factors were subjected to a significance test to obtain an index between 0 and 1. these factors were ranked according to their significance index of importance, and only the extremely important factors are discussed below. there were 12 such factors. the discussion below concentrated on the factors that are considered extremely important for access to project finance. the significant factors were calculated for all the factors in the study, and these were then ranked. the results are reported in tables 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 according to the attributes under which they are classified. table 10: critical success factors: accessing project finance under the project attribute critical success factor – project attribute si the profitability of the project and demand for the infrastructure 0.91 the repayment period 0.89 the cost of the project 0.85 the scope of the project 0.83 the concession period of the project 0.83 the construction period of the project 0.78 the above factors were found to be critical for the successful access to project finance, and the si value indicates their importance relative to each other. these findings are consistent with ahmadabadi and heravi (2019) whose research identified reliable contractual agreements and project resilience as some of the critical success factors for project attributes that influence the success of the construction phase of the project. the importance of contractual agreement also came out from other studies, wibowo and alfen (2015) who emphases the importance of irrevocable contract; osei-kyei and chan (2017 a) emphasized the importance of wellorganized and committed contracting authority; sharma (2012) who emphasized the importance of the ideal type of ppp contract in use; and ameyaw et al. (2017) m. tshehla and , e. mukudu./ journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 57 emphasized the importance of well-designed ppp contract. these factors are important to ensure project performance. swamy et al. (2018) identified the importance of stakeholder consent, project structure and baseline information as critical success factors for project performance. the most important factor under project attribute is the profitability of the project and the demand for infrastructure. ahmadabadi and heravi (2019) emphasized the importance of economic viability for a project and alteneiji et al. (2019) emphasises that there has to be a demand for and debt-paying project. table 11: critical success factors: accessing project finance (the government attribute) critical success factor – government attribute si the clarity of government objectives 0.88 the availability of government permit and approval 0.86 the existence of a favourable legal framework that is enforced 0.86 the existence of financial management knowledge in the project company 0.86 the existence of government guarantees 0.85 availability of tax exemption or reduction 0.82 the existence of a committed public agency as part of infrastructure development 0.80 the existence of government support for supply and distribution 0.77 the existence of an incentive for new market penetration 0.74 the existence of government control and charges 0.72 the factors for the governmental attribute, depicted in the above table were considered to be critical in the accessing of project finance in zimbabwe. this is consistent with literature findings, for an example, ameyaw et al. (2017) emphasise the existence of an enabling policy and legal framework; and sound legal basis (wibowo and alfen, 2015). while, government policies are the main predictor to ppps implementation in yemen (al-shareem and yusof, 2015); government guarantees, a favourable legal framework, political support and stability (alteneiji et al., 2019); favourable existing legal framework and policy (osei-kyei and chan 2017 (a)); the importance of government guarantee and experience, and favourable legal and political support as the components of government capability for the success of ppp highway projects in the operation stage; legislative frameworks that support quick and transparent decision making (zangoueinezhad and azar, 2014). table 12: critical success factors: accessing project finance (the financing attribute) critical success factor – financing attribute si the inflation rate 0.89 currency exchange rate 0.89 high equity to debt ratio 0.83 the factors that respondents considered to be critical under the financing attribute are shown in table 12. the inflation rate affects the cost of money as it affects interest rates. the currency exchange rate is significant, especially in cases where lending is done in a different currency to the local one. the availability of foreign currency as well as the exchange rate is significant in reviewing the viability of the project and ultimately ability to borrow project finance. table 13: critical success factors (the political and economic attributes) critical success factor – political and economic attributes si the political and economic stability of the country 0.92 an effective market for the project outputs 0.88 the social acceptability of the project 0.82 there were three factors found to be critical for accessing project finance under the political and economic attribute. the most significant of the factors was the political and economic stability of the country. this is expected as the level of certainty or uncertainty in a country usually rests on these two factors. this is consistent with the literature; for example, ameyaw et al. (2017) emphasised the importance of political commitment from elected leaders toward ppps. studies by sharma (2012) show that macroeconomic stability, quality of regulation and governance are important factors in determining ppp in the infrastructure. while, wibowo and alfen ( 2015) emphasised the importance of clearly defined mechanisms of ppp needs and strong political support; al-shareem and yusof (2015) emphasised the importance of market readiness and environmental uncertainty; political support and stability (alteneiji et al., 2019); political support and acceptability for ppps, positive government attitude towards private sector investments (osei-kyei and chan, 2017 (a)); and stable macroeconomic environment (ahmadabadi and heravi, 2019). table 14: critical success factors (the special purpose vehicle attribute) critical success factor – special purpose vehicle attribute si the resources available in the project company 0.83 the level of project management experience 0.83 the level of management skills in the project company 0.83 the reputation of the project company 0.82 the financial strength of the company 0.82 the legal structure of the project company 0.80 the quality of subcontractors 0.80 familiarity with industry and client 0.75 the size of the company 0.72 existence of special purpose vehicle 0.72 there were ten factors under the spv attribute that were found to be critical in the ability to access project finance in zimbabwe. it is interesting to note that although considered significant, the existence of an spv ranks lowly compared to other factors under the spv attribute. it may be because many of the respondents are from organizations where the use of spv is very limited or not done at all, for instance, local authorities and parastatals. 5. limitations of the research 58 m.f. tshehla and , e. mukudu / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 48-59 the size of the sample in this study was a major limitation. the participants who completed the questionnaires were chosen by the organizations approached. the researchers did not have an in-depth knowledge of these participants only the information about themselves that they provided on the questionnaire. this is a limitation in that it assumes competence in project finance that may not be at the level of expert. the cronbach alpha values for interrater reliability for aggregate project attributes, political and economic attributes were questionable. as a result, some of the factors under the said attributes were not included in the conclusions. however, these factors are critical, and their exclusion diminishes the value of this study. several factors that ranked high on the significance index were not considered in the conclusions because they failed the interrater reliability test. there is a need to investigate these factors with a different group of experts to avoid the study being affected by history. the size of the sample must also be expanded to achieve a higher level of representativeness than achieved in the current study. 6. conclusions the economic condition in developing countries is an important factor in the ability to access project finance. the results of this study confirmed this. macroeconomic conditions within a country determine the inflation rate, interest rates and other economic factors which have a direct bearing on lending and investments in that country. this study also concluded that the legal environment of a country has a bearing on access to project finance. investors and lenders prefer to go to countries where there is a strong legal framework that is enforced. the respondents in this study agreed that this was an important factor in accessing project finance. while the legal systems in zimbabwe are sound, they are not always applied consistently to provide confidence in their impartiality. almost all the factors investigated in this study regarding access to project finance were found to be important. however, some of the factors could not be included in the conclusions to this study because of the poor interrater reliability values. the developing countries, as represented by zimbabwe, have a huge potential to improve their economies and the well-being of their citizens. infrastructure is an enabler in this endeavour, and all efforts must be made for its provision. a total of 33 factors under five attributes were identified: governmental, financing, project, special purpose vehicle, and politics and economics were identified as being critical for accessing project finance. these factors were ranked according to their significance index or importance. only 12 factors were considered as extremely important as critical success factors for project financing in zimbabwe. the critical success factors list will assist governments in determining what the private sector requires before participating in government infrastructure projects. these factors will also assist financial institutions 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https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1.922 abstract effective quality management practices are critical to successful project delivery. however, the quality challenges in developing countries such as nigeria, which is the focus of this research, have been a concern to construction practitioners and other interested parties such as clients and regulatory bodies. some scholars suggest that part of these challenges can be attributed to ineffective quality management systems; thus, leading to consequences such as building collapse, poor organisational/industry reputation, poor/lack of traceability, poor documentation process, and lack of planned audit. this research aims to develop a contextual model that is intended to improve the culture of quality that can facilitate effective quality management practices in construction organisations in nigeria. a mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methodological approach was deployed based on a pragmatic research philosophy paradigm. a questionnaire (quantitative) survey was adopted to gather data and results from the data analysis and reviewed literature were discussed, and the findings supported the development of a conceptual quality management model in construction as the outcome of this research. the designed model comprises eight integrated components. the model is a quality system that construction organisations can use: to identify some typical barriers hindering effective qmss implementation; to assist them to develop cultural values that can drive effective qmss implementation; to undertake effective qmss practices as they relate to construction, and to recognise the potential results and longer-term benefits obtainable from implementing effective qmss. the model was evaluated and validated by professional construction practitioners and academic experts for its usefulness and applicability. future study should focus on the practical validation of the model. keywords: iso 9001; quality management practices; quality management system. 1. introduction quality management practices, according to watson and howarth (2011) and ofori et al. (2002), can speed up projects and increase profitability, help to satisfy clients, reduce the number of defects, reduce inspection costs, enhance workmanship efficiency, and improve construction repute; however, quality management practices have evolved dramatically since they first emerged. initially, quality management in construction was primarily by inspection; the faulty goods were scrapped or transferred to the customers. this was followed by quality control. subsequent attempts ensured 2 corresponding author. email address: ofolaj73@yahoo.com ©2021 the author(s). published by uct library. this is an open access article under the cc by 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ quality assurance by considering quality cost, reliable technology, and eliminating defects (winch, 2002). nowadays, the emphasis is on quality management systems; they may be adopted, or organisations can develop their own. however, many construction organisations, especially in the developed countries, have adopted iso 9001 (quality management system requirements). as a result, iso 9001 is the most widely used quality management system globally (iso 9001, 2015). according to harris et al. (2013), management of quality in construction is an area of specialisation that has been growing over the past four to five decades to university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.5.1. mailto:ofolaj73@yahoo.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ 2 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 embrace aspects of company activities and projects that are often seen as isolated from the physical product. they further identified aspects of quality (for example, quality planning and quality control) that influence the quality of the construction projects. quality management in construction is a distinct feature that needs to be given the utmost attention in any construction work. it is a holistic approach to managing a project and delivering value for money and fitness for purpose. dada, obiegbu, and kunya (2016) stated that quality management covers all processes, procedures, and responsibilities to achieve quality objectives. according to agbenyega (2014), quality is aimed at standardisation, while bala, keftin, and adamu (2012) perceived quality management as a wide-scale failure prevention program. however, the quality of construction projects in nigeria is not given the desired attention. nwabueze (2001) lamented that one of the major reasons for clients' dissatisfaction with most construction projects is poor quality, and nigeria is not an exception. the construction industry in nigeria has been reportedly maligned with quality issues such as building collapse, construction delays, project abandonment, and cost overrun (nwachukwu et al., 2010, windapo and rotimi 2012). similarly, in ghana, the delivery of construction projects is still characterised by poor quality (government of ghana, 2007). this has been partly attributed to technical incapacity, poor materials, and a general lack of competence and capacity (technical and human resource) within both client and contractor organisations (government of ghana, 2007). in addition, previous research identified quality consequences such as poor company/industry reputation, poor/lack of traceability, conflicts due to customer dissatisfaction, poor documentation process, and lack of planned audit in some organisations. according to the federal ministry of power, works, and housing (2016), 54 buildings collapsed across nigeria between 2012 and 2016. furthermore, national emergency management agency (nema; 2019) reported that twenty people were killed on march 13th, 2019, when a four-storey building containing a primary school in nigeria's commercial capital, lagos, collapsed, and forty-five others survived. the investigation showed that the reasons for the building collapse include poor enforcement of building regulations and substandard construction materials. in a previous study, ibrahim and sodangi (2007) attributed low-quality project deliveries in nigeria to ineffective quality management practices. olatunji et al. (2012) emphasised the need for effective quality management practices in nigerian construction organisations to reduce the effects of pertinent quality issues. many construction organisations in developed countries such as the united kingdom and germany have adopted iso 9001 (quality management system requirements) for improved organisational effectiveness. on the other hand, most construction companies in nigeria mainly practice an inspection-based quality management system, and only a few companies (240 in 2016) embrace iso 9001 (oludare and olugboyega, 2016). iwaro and mwasha (2012) concluded in their research that iso 9001 certification is important to an organisation because it can be used to improve workmanship performance, improve systemic factors, and improve the organisation's quality substantially. however, getting certified to iso 9001 cannot guarantee quality projects; instead, it is the organisation’s willingness to create the right culture for effective quality management practices. for the nigerian construction industry to realise the full benefits of quality management practices, zubairu (2016) recommended that a framework needs to be developed that suits building construction projects in nigeria. this need formed the foundation of this research to develop a contextual, conceptual model for construction organisations in nigeria. the model is expected to nurture an appropriate culture of quality (organisational pattern of habits and behaviour) that will, in turn, improve the quality of construction projects in nigeria and promote competitiveness between the local and foreign contractors.. 2. literature review it is widely acknowledged that the construction industry is a great contributor to the economic growth of any nation. willar (2012) reported that the construction industry globally is one of the largest contributors to the gross domestic product (gdp) and plays an important role in determining a country's economic growth. to this end, the nigerian construction industry plays an important role in meeting the needs of the nation's infrastructural and economic development; thus, making it one of the main economic indicators that determine the growth of the nigerian economy, according to the national bureau of statistics (2017). however, the quality of construction projects in nigeria has been described as ‘poor’ by many scholars. for example, hughes and williams (1991) asserted that factors such as the subjective nature of quality, project uniqueness, the transient nature of construction projects, and several teams with different skills and interests all make quality particularly challenging to attain in the construction industry. it is, however, noteworthy that many other industries also have several teams with different skills and interest and yet do not suffer from the same quality issues. therefore, to address quality challenges in the construction industry, quality management practices need to become a key part of management functions. many have claimed that effective quality management practices in the construction industry can improve quality and productivity, according to arditi and gunaydin (1997). this can be true when an organisation has the right culture regarding leadership commitment and an effective quality management system. 2.1 quality management system a survey of firms in lagos, oludare and olugboyega (2016) found that quality management systems used among construction organisations are not applied in a standardised manner as organisations indicated different quality management systems. according to them, supervision of workmanship is the most used quality control tool among construction companies in nigeria. this suggests that supervisors are relied upon to ensure the quality of work undertaken. the level of quality of e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 3 projects, therefore, depends on the expertise of the supervisors. oludare and olugboyega (2016) pointed out that only a few construction firms in nigeria use iso 9001 standards. however, this does not mean that quality projects cannot be delivered without iso 9001 certification; the most important factor is the organisational commitment to quality and the right culture. they further reported that only 11% of questionnaire respondents expressed commitment to quality management, and less than 16% and 3% of the construction firms relied on project managers and architects to handle quality management. furthermore, over 45% of the respondents did not indicate the department handling quality management in their companies. this suggests that these companies did not have a specific department handling quality. in addition, the nigerian institute of building (2009) summarised the factors affecting the implementation of quality management systems, and these are lack of quality culture, lack of top management commitment, lack of adequate resources, resistance to change, and corruption. to achieve quality project objectives, it is important to have an appropriate and well-implemented quality management system. hoyle (1997) warned that the production of required quality products does not happen by chance, but rather it must rely on the use of a quality management system to meet all the established quality goals. therefore, construction organisations need a structured and systematic approach to implement a quality management system's practices, principles, and techniques. hence, the adoption of a formal quality management system (qms) is important in construction organisations. thorpe and sumner (2004) defined a qms as a formal statement of an organisation’s policy, management responsibilities, processes, procedures, and controls that reflect the most effective and efficient ways to meet (or exceed) the expectations of those it serves whilst achieving its prime business objectives. 2.2 iso 9001 (quality management system requirements) although there are many ways to develop a quality management system, many organisations (including in construction) adopt the iso 9000 family of standards, a set of standards and guidelines for quality management systems that represent an international consensus on the most acceptable and effective quality management practices. the standards provide a comprehensive framework for designing and managing a quality management system and can help organisations establish a process orientation and the discipline to establish, implement, maintain, document and control key processes (watson and howarth, 2011). winch (2010) emphasised that iso 9000 is not a product standard but a standard for quality management systems. however, iso 9001 (2015) is the international standard that sets out the requirements for a quality management system (qms). it helps organisations (including in construction) to demonstrate their ability to consistently provide projects and services that meet clients and relevant stakeholders’ requirements. according to willar (2012), the iso 9001 series has become the qms model recommended by followers of the quality movement as a benchmark for implementing good management and process control in a variety of industries and sectors. however, the weakness of iso 9001 is its generic nature. for a quality system to produce the desired outcome, it needs to consider the context of the environment within which it is to be implemented. the context includes the national, vocational, and organisational culture. unfortunately, the organisational culture in nigeria makes it difficult for local companies in nigeria to adopt iso 9001 because of the country’s low level of quality culture (ibrahim and sodangi, 2007). they added that the indigenous contractors lament the high cost of iso 9001 implementation and the daunting documentation process of its certification. there is, therefore, a need to bridge the gap between the current quality practices and iso 9001. hence, a new model needs to be developed to promote the expected culture of quality for effective quality management practices in construction organisations in nigeria. however, the prominence of iso 9001 makes it a useful foundation for the development of the proposed model in this study. figure 1 presents the iso 9001 qms model. figure 1: iso 9001 model (source: figure generated by authors based on iso 9001: 2015) 4 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 furthermore, successful implementation of a qms requires effective planning, operation, and review and continuous improvement of the system at all levels of an organisation. iso 9001 (2015) reinforced that quality management principles (mps) are required to implement the model successfully. the mps (fundamental beliefs) can be used as a foundation to guide an organisation's performance improvement. the following section provides a brief description of each of the principles or theories. 2.2.1 iso 9001 principles • customer focus: the primary focus of quality management is meeting customer expectations and striving to exceed them. other interested parties should be considered as well. this calls for the identification of all relevant stakeholders in a project. • leadership: leaders at all levels give direction and create conditions in which people are engaged in achieving the organisation’s quality objectives. • engagement of people: competent, empowered, and engaged people throughout the organisation are essential to enhance its capability to create and deliver value. • process-based approach: consistent and predictable results are achieved more effectively and efficiently when activities are understood and managed as interrelated processes that function as a coherent system. • improvement: successful organisations have an ongoing focus on improvement. improvement is essential for an organisation to maintain current performance levels, react to changes in its internal and external conditions, and create new opportunities. • evidence-based decision making: decisions based on the analysis and evaluation of data and information are more likely to produce desired results. facts, evidence, and data analysis can lead to greater objectivity and confidence in decision making. an example of this is the data analysis in this study that is expected to assist in developing the proposed model. • relationship management: for improved performance, an organisation manages its relationships with interested parties, such as suppliers. interested parties can influence the performance of an organisation. furthermore, iso 9001 has some requirements (clauses) to be met by organisations seeking to get certified to it. however, meeting these requirements depends on each organisation's operational activities and their policy towards quality improvement. 2.2.2 iso 9001 clauses in total, iso 9001 is made up of 10 clauses, and to successfully implement it, an organisation must satisfy clauses 4-10. the first three clauses are scope, normative references, and terms and definitions. clauses 4-10 are briefly explained below: clause 4. context of the organisation: this clause sets out the requirements for an organisation to review the business and the environment, considering the key internal and external factors that impact it and how a defined management system can address these factors. clause 5. leadership: this clause encompasses a range of key activities to demonstrate leadership and commitment concerning the quality management system. clause 6. planning: this clause is based on the organisation's actions to address risk and opportunities and assess whether the organisation manages risks effectively. clause 7. resources: an effective quality management system cannot be maintained or improved without adequate resources. this clause sets out planning activities for determining and providing such resources, including contract or project-specific resources. clause 8. operation: this clause represents the core production and operational control parts of the organisation. clause 9. performance evaluation: collection and analysis of relevant data are necessary to measure the management system's suitability and effectiveness and identify opportunities for improvement. clause 10. improvement: this section requires reviewing processes, projects and services and quality management systems for continual improvement. in the context of quality management implementation in organisations, culture cannot be ignored. 2.2.3 quality culture coffey (2010) and gryna et al. (2007) defined quality culture as “the pattern of habits, beliefs and behaviour concerning quality”. there are varieties of cultural influences on individuals and stakeholders which shape their expectations. these are referred to as the frames of reference, which include national culture, vocational culture (industry, institutional and professional culture) and organisational culture (gryna et al., 2007). hence, the development of quality culture in an organisation can be influenced by these frames of reference. arguably, organisational culture appears to have a stronger influence than professional (vocational) and national culture in developing a quality culture in construction firms. the foundations for quality orientation or culture of an organisation are defined at the corporate level. the corporate quality culture is the organisational value system that encourages a quality-conscious work environment. it establishes and promotes quality and continuous improvement through values, traditions, and procedures (goetsch and davis 2006). according to evans and lindsay (1996), quality-conscious companies adopt quality management systems that focus not only on delivering high-quality products but also on creating performance improvement in the internal and external services generated by the company. therefore, the existence of a strong quality culture can lead to organisational effectiveness. therefore, it is suggested that organisations need to pay more attention to the development of appropriate quality culture for effective quality management practices. 3. methodology and sampling based on pragmatic philosophical assumptions, a mixedmethod approach was adopted to explore the quality management systems used in construction organisations in nigeria and the factors affecting the implementation of e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 5 organisations' qmss. according to mahamadu et al. (2015), pragmatism is an approach that works in between the interpretive and positivist paradigms. this approach is more appropriate for this study because it is pinned on both interpretive (qualitative) and positivist (quantitative) tenets. therefore, a questionnaire survey (quantitative) was used to collect data from construction professionals on using qmss in their respective organisations. on the other hand, qualitative interviews were used to validate the model and assess its applicability. drawing a suitable sample for data collection is an obvious necessity since it is rarely possible to investigate an entire population due to source restrictions in most research. the three most used types of random sampling are simple random sampling, stratified random sampling and cluster random sampling (kumar, 2011). simple random sampling is the most used method of selecting a probability sample. under simple random sampling, each element in the population is given an equal and independent chance of selection, whereas the stratified random sampling is a method employed to randomly choose a few samples representing each stratum of a population (kumar, 2011); “it has advantages of high generalisability of findings and is the most efficient among all probability designs” (sekaran and bougie 2009). this method was used to select respondents representing a typical construction practitioner, including quality/project managers, architects, quantity surveyors, site engineers, and general managers. finally, cluster sampling was used primarily to choose the location of designated construction companies. the population of the study was mainly construction professionals across the six geo-political zones in nigeria. nigeria’s construction sector is estimated to employ about 1% of the country’s labour force (idrus and sodangi 2010), giving a population for this research of the order of magnitude of about 600,000 construction professionals. the following cities were chosen based on the six geopolitical zones in nigeria for the data collection; abuja, the federal capital of nigeria and lokoja representing north-central; kaduna representing north-west, lagos state representing the south-west, enugu represents south east, and port harcourt representing south-south. however, the north-eastern part could not be reached due to an insurgency attack in that region. the sampling across different regions reflected the view of sekaran and bougie (2009) that the sampling design is most useful when studying a heterogeneous group at one time. to avoid response bias, the questionnaire was designed to be anonymous, and leading questions were avoided. furthermore, ethical norms such as integrity of data and the exact representation of data were adhered to in this research by following the ethical research procedures of loughborough university (including formal approval of all data collection plans). 4. data collection, analysis and model development the distribution and collection of the questionnaires were conducted from february 2018 july 2018 in nigeria. the questionnaires were delivered personally by the researcher. three hundred questionnaires were distributed amongst three different groups of construction organisations in nigeria, 150 were distributed to the public sector, and 75 each to foreign and local contractors. this distribution covers the scope of this study; the public sector acts as clients on behalf of the government, while the contractors, both foreign and local, are the project constructors. descriptive statistical analysis was first undertaken after reliability testing to establish the demographic profile of the participants and the construction organisations involved in the survey. this research adopted both closed-ended and openended questions to draw on the strengths of each type of question and minimise bias arising from similar questions. since most of the questions sought opinions or subjective perceptions, the formats of some questions were based on an even itemised rating scale of 4=strongly agree, 3=agree, 2=disagree, 1=strongly disagree. according to coffey (2010), findings of previous research (hofstede et al. 1990) revealed that there had been a significant experience that managers tend to select the mid-point of an odd-number based rating scale in a questionnaire. many researchers have different views of the use of the ‘middle-way’ response. there is no consensus on the optimum choice of scale (bernard 2000). the collected data were analysed with the aid of statistical software (spss), and the results from the data analysis and reviewed literature supported the development of a conceptual quality management model in construction as the outcome of this research. in addition, parametric testing was further conducted using factor analysis (appendix 4) to reduce a large number of qms variables into a subset of more meaningful qms variables used in the model formulation. having developed and presented the proposed conceptual quality management model, it was necessary to evaluate its validity, usefulness, and applicability to the nigerian construction industry. this was achieved by the involvement of academic experts, policymakers and construction practitioners in nigeria through focus group and semi-structured interviews. the interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, and the data collected were analysed qualitatively through thematic analysis. the participants comprised 17 participants, including academic experts, policymakers, and construction contractors. the participants' experiences span from 10 to 30 years within the built environment, and their contributions assisted greatly in the refinement of the model. the participants all confirmed the suitability of the model for the construction industry in nigeria. 4.1 data analysis of the 300 questionnaires sent, 46 were returned undelivered, bringing the questionnaires distributed to 254. therefore, the completed questionnaires returned were 124, which is equivalent to a 48% response rate. the response rate of 48% is considered satisfactory for the survey purpose according to fellows and liu (2008); the sample size of 100 with a response rate between 35-40% is adequate for questionnaires in construction-related studies. the first step of the analysis was to subject the data to a reliability test. cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. according to pallant (2007), “cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.70 or above is 6 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 considered adequate”. table 1 shows a cronbach's alpha test result of 0.87; this provides evidence of the data’s reliability for further analysis. table 1: reliability test cronbach’s alpha test number of items 0.87 54 4.1.1 demographic information of respondents the analysis of this data begins with the demographic information of the respondents and their respective construction organisations. then, table 2 shows the distribution between the public sector, domestic contractor, and foreign contractor organisations to assist in comparing the performance of those three categories. the involvement of foreign contractors has introduced fierce competition in the construction industry in nigeria. the table also reveals that 94% (59+21+14) of all the respondents have professional qualification within the construction industry. the project types were limited to two: civil and building projects. some of the major projects include infrastructure such as roads, bridges, rail lines, hospitals, and schools. table 2: background information of respondents category frequency construction organisations’ involvement foreign-based contractors 19% public sector 49% local contractors 32% professional qualifications civil and building engineering 59% architecture 21% quantity/land surveying 14% other 6% project types building 12% civil 20% both 68% 4.1.1 current quality management practice this section summarises the use of current quality management systems in construction organisations in nigeria. regarding iso 9001 certification in table 3, the result shows a higher mean of 1.7 and a standard deviation of 0.47. this indicates that only 30% of construction organisations are certified to iso 9001 or another system standard. on the validity of the quality management system certificate, the response rate of 1.7 was recorded, and a standard deviation of 0.46. this means that 70% of their organisation's qms certificate were invalid at the time of the data collection, and only 30% recorded valid certificates. however, the result finally shows an effective reporting structure with a mean of 1.4 and a standard deviation of 0.5. this reflects 56% of an effective reporting structure within construction organisations in nigeria. table 3 further shows respondents’ indication of the quality standards or quality management systems used in their organisations or projects. standards or systems were felt to be an important indicator of quality practices in nigeria. table 3: formal quality management system or standard elements n mean s.d formal quality management system 124 1.30 0.46 quality policy and quality objectives 124 1.44 0.50 iso 9001 certification or other standards 124 1.69 0.46 valid qms certificate 124 1.71 0.46 effective quality reporting structure 124 1.44 0.50 total 124 1.52 0.48 overall, the result shows a mean of 1.5 and a standard deviation of 0.5 across all qmss or standards. this indicates that 60% of construction companies in nigeria have formal quality management systems in place. however, the challenges lie mainly with their implementation. the analysis shows that all the construction organisations represented in this research use inspection and flowcharts to manage quality on the current quality tools used in nigeria. the flowchart shows the responsibilities of employees for operations. the analysis unveils that other quality tools such as quality function deployment (qfd), lean, total quality management (tqm), and european foundation for quality management are not commonly used in construction companies in nigeria. figure 2: quality management tools figure 2 shows respondents' use of iso 9001 or other standards among the three groups established for this data collection. the graph shows that six out of 60 respondents from the public sector are certified, while 8 out of 40 respondents of local contractors are certified to iso 9001 or other standards. this is relatively low compared to the foreign-based contractors. in identifying factors affecting quality management system implementation in construction organisations in nigeria, as shown in appendix 1, the respondents revealed the following: • lack of top management commitment to quality policy and quality objectives, • provision of inadequate resources, • lack of quality training and culture, and corruption within and outside construction organisations. 23% 24% 33% 33% 40% 47% 50% 100% 100% benchmarking efqm qfd lean tqm cause and effect diagram root cause analysis inspection flowcharts e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 7 figure 3: iso 9001 certification the respondents added other challenges that were not listed in the questionnaire: client’s focus on cost rather than quality, no enforcement of standards, poor understanding of quality, use of substandard building materials, poor understanding of building codes, and use of unqualified engineers and tradesmen (appendix 1). however, suggestions for improvement on quality management system implementation were made in appendix 2 by various respondents, and the result shows the promotion of quality training and culture as the most significant factors for quality improvement in construction organisations in nigeria. the last part of the questionnaire evaluated the implementation of the quality management systems used by construction organisations in nigeria. the key elements of this section are based on quality principles of iso 9001 (2015), as explained in the literature review. respondents were asked to indicate their agreement with statements of the importance of these factors, as shown in table 4. table 4: implementation of quality management system * from -2 for strongly disagree to +2 for strongly agree furthermore, based on the relatively large number of dependent variables (45) from data analysis (appendix 3), factor analysis was deemed necessary to identify the most important variables. the results of the factor analysis show variables that are grouped into six factors. however, factors 2 and 3 represent the same concept (leadership commitment); the factors were therefore regrouped into five components. these are: factor 1 quality management system challenges factor 2 leadership commitment factor 3 performance measurement factor 4 construction processes (demographic information) factor 5 quality management system improvement. the data were subjected to further analysis. the factors were revised based on this further data analysis and following reflections from the literature review. the resulting factors form the fundamental components of the proposed conceptual quality management model in construction for this study. the factors are: factor 1: quality drivers factor 2: quality management implementation challenges factor 3: leadership commitment factor 4: performance evaluation indicators factor 5: construction activities and processes factor 6: quality improvement controls factor 7: quality management practice outcomes factor 8: quality improvement 5. discussion the demographic data captured in the questionnaire form the basis for data analysis because the first step in data analysis is to determine the respondents' background and ensure that the information obtained can be considered 'fit for purpose. the reviewed literature reveals that quality has been a problem in the nigerian construction industry for decades. olugboyega (2000) observed a general decline in quality performance in the nigerian construction industry, leading to the prevalence of abandoned projects, high maintenance cost, and loss of lives. this low-quality performance led to the dominance of foreign-based companies over the local contractors in nigeria. it can be observed that foreign-based contractors handle major construction and special projects in nigeria. idrus and sodangi (2010) asserted that most expatriate contractors adopt iso 9001, which has distinguished their buildings in terms of quality and time of project delivery but at a higher cost than the indigenous contractors. however, this does not mean that no local contractors are doing it right in nigeria. it is good to emphasise that getting certified to iso 9001 cannot guarantee quality projects, rather the organisations’ willingness to create the right culture for effective quality management practices. many companies in nigeria without iso 9001 certification have delivered projects successfully within the project constraints of time, cost, and objectives. key elements of the questionnaire strongly disagree (%) disagree (%) agree (%) strongly agree (%) mean score* customer focus 0.66 4.89 57.31 37.14 1.25 leadership 13.71 38.71 27.42 20.16 0.02 engagement of people 16.33 43.75 28.43 11.49 -0.25 process-based approach 5.05 61.49 11.49 21.97 -0.16 improvement 23.59 20.36 42.14 13.91 0.02 evidence-based decision making 23.64 20.41 42.04 13.91 0.02 relationship management 16.73 31.25 41.73 10.29 -0.02 24 8 6 32 54 public sector local contractor foreign-based contractor yes no 4 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 olatunji et al. (2012) maintained a need for effective quality management practices in nigerian construction organisations to reduce the adverse effects of quality issues. abdulsalam (2016) added that a framework (model) needs to be developed for quality management practices that suit building construction proects in nigeria. the results from data analysis show that the following factors affect quality management system implementation in construction organisations in nigeria: lack of top management commitment to quality policy and quality objectives, provision of inadequate resources, lack of quality training and culture, and corruption within and outside construction organisations. it is noteworthy that corruption emerged as the main factor affecting qms implementation in nigeria in the reviewed literature. however, if corruption is this high, why are some organisations still able to operate ethically in nigeria? this question led to further analysis to determine the major challenges through principal component analysis. the results show a factor loading of below 0.6; this indicates that corruption is not one of the major factors affecting the quality delivery of construction projects in nigeria, as shown in appendix 3. the findings further highlight some quality controls to overcome these challenges, and these are: adopting or establishing a formal qms, promoting a culture of documentation as well as establishing, implementing, and maintaining quality policy and quality objectives. the following subsection gives an account of the development of a conceptual quality management model. 5.1 the conceptual framework based on the global acceptance of iso 9001 with its associated benefits, the structure of the proposed model in this research is largely based on it. one of the core principles of quality management is continual improvement; therefore, the proposed model in this research is expected to improve iso 9001, but specifically designed in the context of construction organisations in nigeria. the findings show that 60% of construction organisations have formal quality management systems, but quality awareness and qms implementation remain low. based on these, a new model that can easily be implemented needs to be created in the context of cultural practices in the nigerian construction market. the framework consists of 8 integrated components, as displayed in figure 4. this research highlighted the difficulties in implementing iso 9001 by nigerian contractors. the difficulties include the high cost of its implementation and the daunting documentation process, and this is reflected in the low certification of iso 9001 in nigeria. another challenge with iso implementation is its generic nature; the construction industry has its peculiar characteristics such as site variations, the transient nature of projects and their uniqueness, and different construction processes compared with other industries. in addition, the iso as an organisation has developed other industry-specific model for oil and gas, automotive, and medical devices, but they are yet to develop a construction-specific qms standard. this led to zubairu’s (2016) recommendation that a new framework that is cheaper and easy to implement is needed to improve the quality of construction projects in nigeria. furthermore, this research highlights an apparent lack of consistent performance evaluation of quality management systems in nigeria. the findings revealed that few construction companies in nigeria have never performed an organised or planned quality audits to check the effectiveness of their qmss. figure 4 presents the conceptual odiba quality management model for construction organisations in nigeria based on the findings in this study. the model can be used by both clients (mainly the public sector) and contractors to bridge the gap between the current quality management practices and iso 9001. figure 4: proposed odiba model for quality management in construction e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 5 a brief description of each model component is as follows: • quality objectives: quality objectives are goals set by organisations to meet the needs and expectations of clients and other relevant interested parties. the elements of the components as deduced from the analysis shown in appendix 4 include customer requirements, employee needs/well-being; functional requirements; statutory and regulatory requirements, and organisational requirements. • leadership: excellent leaders demonstrate commitment concerning qms by ensuring that the resources needed for its implementation are available. the elements of leadership from the findings in this study include action plans to address risks and opportunities, establish quality policy and quality objectives, provision of adequate resources and infrastructure, establish the context of the quality management system, and continually improve processes. • qms implementation barriers: the elements include: faulty communication system, lack of consistent quality performance measurement; lack of quality training; resistance to change; and poor documentation of quality management systems. • qms improvement control: they serve as guidelines for qms implementation. the elements of the components include a formal quality management system; and quality management system documentation. • effective quality management practice: quality is essential for all construction projects and needs to be managed effectively at all stages. • quality management practice outcomes: knowledge of expected outcomes can motive quality performance. the elements of the components include customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction; enhanced organisation's reputation; organisation's increased profit and growth, and safety of lives and properties. • quality performance evaluation: construction organisations are required to evaluate the effective performance of their qmss. it is essential to identify key performance indicators (kpis) critical to the successful implementation of their qmss. the kpis identified in this study include leadership commitment level, engagement of people, customer focus and evidence-based decision making. • qms improvement: improvement is essential for any organisation to remain competitive and meet the future needs of clients and interested parties. the elements of the components include quality training, top management commitment, transparent procurement process and staff well-being. 5.2 the distinctiveness of the developed model there are similarities between the developed model and components of other models, such as iso 9001, because this was the foundation for developing this model. however, unique aspects of the developed model can still be identified: the distinctiveness of this model begins with the primary data collected in the geographical location of nigeria to establish the current quality management practices and the major barriers affecting qms implementation. • construction processes: iso 9001 is generic, but this model is specific to construction organisations. • employee satisfaction and well-being: the element of this model caught the attention of one of the focus group participants, one of whom stated, "what makes your model unique is the inclusion of employee satisfaction and well-being. in nigeria here, most employers do not pay attention to workers’ welfare”. qms barriers: this research shows an apparent lack of consistent performance evaluation of quality management systems in nigeria. understanding the barriers will assist project managers to plan for ways to mitigate them. quality improvement: one of the key components of quality improvement is corrective and preventive action (capa); an approach that investigates and solves problems, identifies causes, takes corrective action, and prevents recurrence of the root causes of any issue or quality failures as relating to construction processes or projects. the inclusion of capa in the model makes it unique in the context of the nigerian construction industry. this research focuses on the conceptual development of the model. however, further study will present the full model and how construction organisations can use it. the model is a repeated process that begins with establishing the quality objectives with top leadership involvement. in establishing the quality objectives, qms barriers and control should be considered during the project's construction phases as reflected in the model. the proposed model is a guideline, and the subcomponents can be adopted selectively depending on the context of the project, but it is suggested to apply all the components of the model for improved quality delivery of projects, especially in nigeria. this research aimed to develop a conceptual quality management model that can drive a culture of quality, which can facilitate effective quality management practices in the construction industry in nigeria. figure 5 shows the components of the model that can create the right culture of quality for effective quality management practices, which in turn can facilitate the benefits realisation of a structured qms such as customer satisfaction, reduced construction failures, profits to the organisation, and meeting applicable regulatory requirements as revealed in appendix 6. 4 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 figure 5: components of proposed odiba quality management model in construction 6. conclusions and recommendations the developed model in this study was designed to bridge the gap between the current management practices in nigeria and iso 9001. the findings show that 60% of construction organisations have a formal quality management system, but the quality awareness and qms implementation remain low. based on the findings from data analysis and the information from the literature, it can be observed that there is a clear need for an improved quality management system standard in the construction industry in nigeria. although the result of the analysis showed that 60% of construction organisations have formal quality management systems in place, but the implementation remains low. this indicates that having a quality management system in place does not translate to quality project delivery. further results show that most construction companies in nigeria mainly practice inspection-based quality management, and only a few companies embrace iso 9001 in construction in nigeria. this validates the claim that inspection is the most used quality control tool among construction companies in nigeria. it is noteworthy that the previous research from which inspection emerged was conducted in lagos. however, the information from the research was used in the development of the questionnaire instrument. the research discussion concluded that inspection is the most widely used quality monitoring tool by construction organisations in nigeria. the results also show flowcharts as a commonly used quality tool, but it is mostly used at the corporate level compared to the site level. to improve the image of the nigerian construction organisations in terms of quality project delivery, this research developed a new quality model in the context of cultural practices in the nigerian construction market. the structure of the proposed model in this research is largely based on iso 9001 because of its worldwide acceptance and associated benefits. the framework consists of eight integrated components inferred from data collection and analysis. in addition, the model contains some elements within the components, as displayed in appendix 6. this will be expanded in further research. significant factors were identified in the implementation of quality management systems, and these are lack of top management commitment, lack of quality training, no consistent quality performance evaluation. in addition, the literature identified corruption as the main factor affecting construction quality in nigeria, but this research, through the principal component analysis, unveiled an interesting contrary view. it shows that corruption is not among the main factors affecting construction quality in nigeria, as recorded in the literature. the proposed odiba model is expected to facilitate effective quality management practices through managed and controlled processes to achieve improved quality performance outcomes in meeting functional, customer, regulatory, and statutory needs and requirements. the model is expected to improve projects quality delivery and the organisation's overall business performance. although this study provides insights into effective quality management practices in construction organisations in nigeria, it has some limitations. • the first major limitation was a lack of adequate literature in quality management practices related to construction organisations in nigeria. • secondly, the data used in the development of the model was based on sampling and may not be an exact representation of the population of construction organisations in nigeria. • appropriate professionals only validated the developed model. however, the model has not been used at the site level due to time constraints. this paper recommends top management commitment to establishing and implementing quality policy and quality objectives in the nigerian construction industry. quality awareness should also be promoted through statutory bodies at both local and national levels. e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 5 construction organisations should institute periodic quality training to improve the quality knowledge of employees. further study should concentrate on the detailed operationalisation of the model and the guide for its implementation. it can be concluded that the proposed odiba quality management model in construction is intended to improve the quality management practices both at corporate and project levels, and this will, in turn, facilitate quality project delivery in the construction industry in nigeria and other countries with a similar culture. however, it is recommended for any country to examine its context before adopting this model. the expected benefits include improved competitiveness in national, regional, and international markets, organisational capability to meet clients and regulatory requirements, increased profit, and improved employee well-being and satisfaction, and ultimately clients’ satisfaction. references arditi, d., and gunaydin, h.m. 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(2012). contemporary issues in building collapse and its implications for sustainable development, buildings, 2, 283-299. yasamis, f., arditi, d., and mohammed, j. (2002). assessing contractors’ quality performance. journal of construction management and economics, 20(4), 211223. zubairu, a., b. (2016). assessment of quality management practices of building construction firms, abuja: msc dissertation, abu, zaria. viewed (21/03/2020). available at: http://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/95 71/1/assessment%20of%20quality%20mana gement%20practices%20of%20building%2 0construction%20firms%20in%20abuja%2 c%20nigeria.pdf. appendix 1: other qms implementation challenges appendix 1: other qms implementation challenges the results in the table above fall mainly into two categories. the first category are the items that fall between the mean score of 2.6-2.8, and this reveals that numbers 1, 2, 5, and 9 strongly agreed and agreed with their respective numbers. secondly, numbers 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 revealed a mean of 2.4 approximately, and this signifies strongly disagreed and disagreed with their respective statements. thus, the results confirm that the following factors affect quality management system implementation in construction organisations in nigeria; lack of top management’s commitment to quality policy and quality objectives, provision of inadequate resources, lack of quality training and culture, and corruption within and outside construction organisations. it is noteworthy that corruption emerged as the factor most affecting qms implementation in nigeria. however, if corruption is this high, why are some organisations still doing it right in nigeria? qms implementation challenges n mean s.d lack of top management's commitment to quality policy and quality objectives 124 2.6532 1.05956 2 provision of inadequate resources 124 2.6290 1.06281 3 resistance to change by the employees and sub-contractors 124 2.3629 .93125 4 lack of quality culture within the organisation 124 2.3387 1.18175 5 lack of quality training within the organisation 124 2.6532 1.13370 6 faulty communication system 124 2.4274 1.10559 7 no consistent quality performance evaluation of the organisation's qms 124 2.4919 1.16519 8 poor documentation of the organisation's qms. 124 2.3710 1.13673 9 corruption within and outside the organisation. 124 2.7984 1.12604 total 124 http://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/9571/1/assessment%20of%20quality%20management%20practices%20of%20building%20construction%20firms%20in%20abuja%2c%20nigeria.pdf http://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/9571/1/assessment%20of%20quality%20management%20practices%20of%20building%20construction%20firms%20in%20abuja%2c%20nigeria.pdf http://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/9571/1/assessment%20of%20quality%20management%20practices%20of%20building%20construction%20firms%20in%20abuja%2c%20nigeria.pdf http://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/9571/1/assessment%20of%20quality%20management%20practices%20of%20building%20construction%20firms%20in%20abuja%2c%20nigeria.pdf http://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/9571/1/assessment%20of%20quality%20management%20practices%20of%20building%20construction%20firms%20in%20abuja%2c%20nigeria.pdf e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 7 appendix 2: suggestions for quality improvement appendix 3: 45 initial variables, extraction method: principal component analysis. variables initial extraction work experience 1.000 .709 types of business organisation 1.000 .871 primary business activity/(ies) 1.000 .895 project types 1.000 .882 formal quality management system 1.000 .837 quality policy and quality objectives 1.000 .757 iso 9001 certification or other standards 1.000 .775 valid qms certificate 1.000 .758 effective quality reporting structure 1.000 .564 up to date qms manual 1.000 .824 work instructions 1.000 .782 qms documentation 1.000 .800 effectiveness of qms documentation 1.000 .861 procedure for control of quality documents? 1.000 .824 records of previous work 1.000 .827 efqm 1.000 .748 tqm 1.000 .652 internal quality audit 1.000 .752 external quality audi 1.000 .883 control of non-conforming products or services 1.000 .753 corrective action plan 1.000 .787 preventive action plan 1.000 .830 context of the qms 1.000 .732 quality policy and quality objectives 1.000 .792 action plans to address risks and opportunities 1.000 .736 provision of resources and appropriate infrastructure 1.000 .742 execution of plans and processes of qms 1.000 .649 11.3% 18.55% 8.87% 8.87% 4.03% 8.87% 4.03% 4.84% 10.48% 10.48% 4.84% 4.84% sincere commitment of top management promotion of quality training and quality culture promotion of a transparent procurement process attention top staff wellbeing at all levels motivation and rewarding of construction workers at all levels minimisation of corruption within and outside construction organisations focus on quality and not cost only disengagement of unqualified engineers on site creation of quality awareness certification to iso 9001 clients to acquire new knowledge about quality cessation of inspection to achieve quality objectives 8 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 periodic quality audit 1.000 .742 continual improvement of processes 1.000 .786 lack of top management's commitment to quality policy and quality objectives 1.000 .704 provision of inadequate resources 1.000 .688 resistance to change by the employees and subcontractors 1.000 .654 lack of quality culture 1.000 .758 lack of quality training 1.000 .731 faulty communication system 1.000 .757 lack of consistent quality performance evaluation 1.000 .669 poor documentation qms. 1.000 .725 corruption 1.000 .618 customer focus 1.000 .672 leadership commitment 1.000 .669 process approach 1.000 .833 engagement of people 1.000 .669 improvement 1.000 .687 evidence-based decision making 1.000 .735 relationship management 1.000 .705 appendix 4: principal component analysis result, rotation method: promax with kaiser normalization component 1 2 3 4 5 6 faulty communication system .830 lack of consistent quality performance evaluation .740 tqm .719 lack of quality culture .695 lack of quality training .689 resistance to change by employees and subcontractors .642 poor documentation qms. .618 action plans to address risks and opportunities -.849 quality policy and quality objectives -.830 provision of resources and appropriate infrastructure -.677 context of the qms -.664 continual improvement of processes -.650 preventive action plan .640 provision of inadequate resources .766 leadership commitment -.626 engagement of people -.618 customer focus -.614 primary business activity/(ies) -.941 project types -.930 types of business organisation -.819 corrective action plan .708 evidence-based decision making -.790 external quality audi .643 periodic quality audit -.617 qms documentation -791 formal quality management system .728 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 9 quality policy and quality objectives .673 appendix 5: extracted components and variables factor 1: quality drivers 1 customer requirements 2 employee needs/well-being 3 functional requirements 4 statutory and regulatory requirements 5 organisational requirements factor 2: quality management implementation challenges 1 faulty communication system 2 lack of consistent quality performance measurement 3 lack of quality training 4 resistance to change 5 poor documentation of quality management systems factor 3: leadership commitment 1 action plans to address risks and opportunities 2 establishment of quality policy and quality objectives 3 provision of adequate resources and infrastructure 4 establishing the context of the quality management system 5 continual improvement processes factor 4: performance evaluation indicators 1 resources 2 leadership commitment 3 engagement of people 4 customer focus 5 evidence-based decision making factor 5: construction activities and processes 1 primary business activities 2 project types 3 business organisation types 4 corrective action plan factor 6: quality improvement controls 1 formal quality management system 2 quality management system documentation 3 quality policy and quality objectives factor 7: quality management practice outcomes 1 customer satisfaction 2 employee satisfaction 3 enhanced organisation’s reputation 4 organisation’s increased profit and growth 5 safety of lives and properties factor 8: quality improvement 1 quality training and quality culture 2 top management commitment 3 transparent procurement process 4 staff well-being 10 e. odiba et al. /journal of construction business and management (2021) 5(1).1-16 appendix 6: model with components and elements • context of the organisation • quality policy and quality objectives • adequate resources for training and infrastructure • risks and opportunities • customer requirements • employee satisfaction/ wellbeing • functional requirements • statutory and regulatory requirements • organisational objectives • audit report review • corrective and preventive actions (capa) • continual employee training • quality audit • management review • employee performance review • clients satisfaction • employees satisfaction/wellbeing • safety of lives and properties • company s increased profit and growth • improved culture of quality design construction technical audit maintenance • iso 9001 or formal qms • quality policy and quality objectives • quality training • qms documentation • faulty communication • lack of top management commitment • lack of consistent quality performance evaluation • lack of quality training • resistance to change • poor documentation of qms repeated process continual improvement of all processes odiba quality management model in construction organisations phases of construction projects effective quality management practice consider the barriers qms controlsqms barriers quality objectives quality improvement quality performance evaluation effective quality management practice outcomes leadership commitment jcbm (2020) 4(2).11-24. contingency management in indian construction projects h. maniar 1 1 professor in finance & cost management, l&t institute of project management, vadodara, india received 6 june 2019; received in revised form 3 october 2019 and 29 may 2020; accepted 14 november 2020 https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2.788 abstract the successful completion of indian construction projects possesses an inherent uncertainty due to the nature of the construction industry along with prevailing tepid recovery of the indian economy, which has made it difficult for construction companies to achieve required operational and financial performance. this necessitates having accurate project cost estimation and efficient contingency management to shield unknown project risk and address cost overrun problems. therefore, this study aims to assess the current state, the issues faced in contingency management and evaluating the effectiveness of contingency in overcoming cost overrun problems in indian construction companies. the study preferred a quantitative approach in capturing the required data by using structured questionnaires collected from 100 indian construction companies (of contractors, vendors/suppliers, customers, and consultants) out of 335 companies with a response rate of 29.85%. this, along with archival data analysis of 50 indian construction projects completed between calendar year (cy) 2014 to 2019. the captured data were analysed using simple statistical tools like relative importance index (rii), mean score, standard deviation and ranking methods to ensure relevant results aligned with research objectives. the result findings of the study revealed that 60% of indian construction companies preferred the traditional percentage method for contingency sum percentage addition to estimated project cost (a subjective approach based on the historical project performance) which may not be adequate in overcoming cost overrun problems. archival data analysis found that contingency consideration was effective in accommodating cost overrun problems in 9 (18%) projects out of 50 projects. the study further found that contingency was utilised in an unplanned mode and having unclear contingency forecasting strategies. based on result findings and observations, this study concludes that contingency should be estimated based on the scientific approach in place of a subjective approach to address project risks adequately, this along contingency consideration should be an integral part of the project risk assessment and should be effectively utilised during the execution stage. keywords: contingency, cost overruns, indian construction projects, operational and financial performance, project risk. 1. introduction indian construction companies have been subject to severe financial stress due to factors including the slow rate of macro-economic recovery, implementation of farreaching policies such as goods and services tax (gst) and demonetisation by the government of india within a short period (cmie (centre for monitoring indian economy) report, 2019). this, along with projectspecific factors such as competitive bidding prices, unwarranted delays, unpredictable revenue and margins, variable resource rates, and uncertain site conditions 1 corresponding author. email address: hmaniar@lntipm.org create both opportunities and challenges for construction companies (jimoh et al., 2014). as per the study conducted by the construction industry development council (cidc) of india ; the cost structure of indian construction projects is significantly dominated by material cost (40% 45%) and sub-contracting charges (20% 25%). therefore, it is imperative for indian construction companies to optimally estimate project cost and effective utilised project resources. this, along with suitable provisions of contingency to safeguard project budget against any adverse upswing or overspend which university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2. mailto:hmaniar@lntipm.org 12 h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).11-24. can affect the operational and financial performance of the construction projects. considering these impending factors, increasing project bid price is not an effective choice because of unpredictable market conditions, project time and scope commitments to the customers apart from a fear of losing the competitive edge in the market (kim et al., 2008). therefore, to defend project cost and margins, adequate contingencies should be considered in project cost baseline (cbl) to empower project managers with required flexibility in overcoming cost overruns and accommodating unknown project risks (touran, 2003). hence, construction companies should make suitable provision of a contingency to accommodate slippage due to price escalations of resources; scope/design changes; possible underestimation during the proposal stage or cost overruns in the execution stage (hart, 2007). in prevailing situations, managing construction project cost is a significant and challenging task for indian construction companies, unlike their global counterparts. the study had preferred a questionnaire survey and archival data of previously completed projects for data collection and analysis. the questionnaire survey method was mainly used for gathering required project data to understand key aspects and features of contingency management in indian construction companies. the study also used archival data of 50 indian construction projects completed between cy (calendar year) 2014 to 2019. the primary intent of using archival data analysis was to assess the impact of contingency in understanding the relationship between the estimated cost and actual cost for completed projects for measuring utilisation of contingency in studied projects. in the present state of executing price-sensitive construction projects, this study aimed in assessing the current state, the issues faced in contingency management and evaluating the effectiveness of contingency in overcoming cost overrun problems in indian construction companies. therefore, for the attainment of study aim; required objectives firmed-up and targeted through the study, the objectives are as follows: • to study indian construction companies’ awareness and approach towards contingency management along with various factors affecting contingency in the overall project performance. • to elicit the opinions of surveyed project companies regarding the impact of the factors affecting contingency estimation and the degree of consideration of these factors in the project estimated cost. • to identify and assess contingency provision in project estimated cost along with its effectiveness in overcoming cost overrun problems. • to evaluate the adequacy of contingency reserve to improve project performance along with contingency management practices adopted in indian construction projects. the rest of the research paper is structured in multiple sections where section-2 represents literature review, section-3 research methodology, section-4 results and discussion of findings and section-5 represents conclusions and recommendations. 2. literature review contingency management in construction projects has been a research topic in focus since long, and many researchers have worked in a wide-ranging manner. various past studies and their recommendations have been referred for this study and are briefly summarised below; contingency can be defined as a project reserve or buffer, according to baccarini (2004). based on study observations, contingency is a buffer or provision added to estimated project cost baseline to accomplish project commitments in terms of time, scope, quality and cost to accommodate likely changes as per contract specifications. a study undertaken by aace (2008) indicates that contingency is buffer or provision considered to cost baseline (cbl) estimate to accommodate unknown risk due to project conditions, unforeseen situations which may increase project cost in addition to the estimated cost. aace (2008) study also recommended inclusions and exclusions of contingency in the construction projects. similarly, according to akinsola (1996), contingency is essential for achieving the required operational and financial performance for construction projects. according to the study, contingency is integral to project baseline cost, which empowers project managers to mitigate project uncertainties and deviations that imperil project performance. paper has utilised neural network for cost contingency estimation contrasted with traditional judgemental methods. research additionally mentioned that considering the nature of construction projects and different objectives which requires the innovation or logical techniques to understanding the required outcome. subsequently, because of this uniqueness, the estimated project contingency allowance because presumption and observation are lacking and unfeasible. in construction projects, contingencies are usually calculated as a percentage to estimate cost which depends on the type of contract, scope, quality and commitment of various project stakeholders like contractors, vendors, and suppliers (lorance et al., 2001). amade et al., (2014) had investigated scenario of contingency in nigerian projects which revealed that contingency is estimated using the traditional percentage and arbitrary conventional methods. it further highlights that most construction projects prefer traditional percentage method to estimate contingency which is usually up to 10% of the estimated cost to accommodate unknown risk. apart from this, contingency percentage addition to estimated cost depends on the various projects related factors like location, site challenges, nature and complexity of work, the quantum of work and timeframe of the project (jimoh et al., 2014). the study has assessed the relationship between contingency sum and client objectives related to budget, schedule, scope, and quality for delivering committed project performance in the study undertaken for the renovation of public school facilities in abuja. akinradewo et al., (2016) have studied 53 projects completed in ondo state, nigeria, reveals that average contingency was about 5% while average spending was 18% higher than estimated cost which shows that contingency was insufficient by 13%. the study further observed that contingency estimated using the traditional h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 11-24. 13 percentage method was insufficient, and it further proposed that the distribution of contingency provision should be based on cost examination of related finished projects. adoption of contingency estimation technique depends on many factors; according to the study conducted by khalafallah et al., (2005) on estimating residential project contingencies by using belief network framework. it recommended a system for estimating cost contingencies during the project proposal stage based on causal belief network and risk contingency model considering various factors that cause project time and cost overrun using belief network on lump sum residential building projects. el-kholy (2015) through his study on construction contractors in egypt, had suggested two models called regression analysis and case-based reasoning (cbr) model for estimating contingency which largely depends on cost escalation in construction projects. according to the study, 11 significant causes were identified, and the dependent variable was the cost overrun percentage. research further highlighted that the regression model has prediction capabilities higher than that of the cbr model, and the same has been considered as vital information/input for contingency consideration in construction projects. according to hart (2007), contingency is a fixed sum or percentage of a baseline estimate considered with the precondition for utilisation of contingency for unknown scenarios. defined scenarios like price escalations due to unexpected cost increment in project resources; changes in degree or defects/errors that are acknowledged during project execution; possible underestimation during proposal stage or cost overspending during the execution stage. the selection of the right contingency estimation technique is vital as it decides its effective utilisation during the execution stage. razali hamid et al. (2017) have studied highway construction projects in nigeria, which revealed that there was no definite method for estimating contingency in studied projects. the study had further recommended that selection of contingency estimating method depends on the uniqueness of projects, simplicity in utilising selected methods along with the precision of the estimates. construction projects due to its inherent characteristics are full of uncertainties and unknown risk, which has compelled the consideration of contingency as an addition to estimated construction cost. baccarini (2003) on the study undertaken for two diverse construction/engineering and information technology companies, concluded that there is no connection between project-specific variables and estimated project cost baseline (cbl). furthermore, in studied projects, the contingency was computed subjectively, which limits its effectiveness as it was based on perception, previous project information and expert advice. the study further recommends that critical success factors for contingency estimation depend on cost, time, quality and scope along with associated risks. according to buertey et al., (2012), contingency estimation is usually based on accessible historical data, judgemental and prevailing organisational culture, which is by all accounts unempirical and lacking. the study recommends contingency estimating process and proposes a framework and the same was tested in the form of questionnaires among targeted project customers, contractors, vendors, suppliers, and connected project professionals to check the viability of the suggested framework. according to the study, due to the nonaccessibility of a steady and dependable technique for determining contingency along with a suitable application of statistical approach often leads to project time, cost and resources overruns, which frequently prompts delay in projects. the allocation of contingency is a challenging assignment and tricky decision. according to the study conducted by cioffi et al., (2007), in the majority of the studied construction projects, contingency allocation process was irregular and subjective. the study had utilised a mathematical model in particular binomial distribution with a probability equal to the project risks’ average probability. in light of the accumulation of different project risks and its impacts were then summed over the predetermined number of risks, prompting reasonable possibility contingency budget. paper additionally mentions that technique or model preferred for contingency estimation should beat disorders of possibility being communicated as a percentage of estimate cost. generally, it is insufficient aside from it is being connected with some project risk scenarios and its probability whereby the level of cost overrun will not surpass the selected or preferred contingency allowance. numerous research studies have been conducted in the area of contingency fund utilisation to address projectspecific risks and uncertainties. according to alfred, et al., (2010), risk and applicable cost overruns are crucial for construction projects, which are taken care with the assignment of an arbitrary flat percentage of the construction budget as a contingency fund. the study developed a model based on multiple linear regression concepts to estimate suitable contingency reserve for air force construction projects. the suggested model had considered various parameters like the nature of projects, project scope and quality criteria, and bid stage assumptions which were further used in measuring performance metrics and accordingly research framework measured 44% of actual cost overspending versus the 20% measured based on the study undertaken. the proposed model provides insight in estimating contingency reserve or provision needed for cost estimation and managing cost in infrastructure projects. construction projects’ performance differs with and without consideration of contingency. according to musa et al., (2011) on the study on public and private organisations in kaduna, kano, and abuja, there was a noticeable change among studied projects with and without consideration of contingency based on the precision of estimated cost. the study recommends the application of quantitative risks to improve the accuracy of cost contingency allowance. this observation was further endorsed by aibinu et al., (2002) during the study on the impacts of delays on project delivery in the nigerian construction industry. the study inferred that the distribution of contingency allowance based on assumption and perception of risks seems to be insufficient and impractical in most cases. the study further highlights that the possibility of contingency sums 14 h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).11-24. incorporated into the pre-contract or bid estimate of projects was not sufficient to overcome cost overrun problems happens because of different unexpected situations. osipova et al., (2013) in the study has considered two construction projects for studying joint risk management for balancing control and flexibility in managing projects. the study correlated the significance of project operational performances in managing risks and examined the relationship between project control and flexibility oriented risk management strategies. the research proposes joint risk management for assessing project contingency which requires both mechanistic (control-oriented) and organic (flexibility-oriented) management systems in managing unknown risks and uncertainties. contingency inclusion should have a definite strategy as, without a laid-down strategy, it is usually being considered based on the subjective manner which dilutes the actual purpose of contingency in construction projects. according to piero anticona (2019) study outcomes, a preliminary assessment should be conducted along with the involvement of proposal cell while preparing baseline estimates during project sensitivity analysis. this should help in determining an effective contingency estimation strategy for specific cost drivers and their potential impacts on project performance. the contingency is a scarce project buffer; hence it should be judiciously spent to accommodate unknown project risks and upholding project performance commitments. based on the study conducted by randolph ruff, et al. (2018) on construction projects, there should be structured contractor contingency provision to distinguish contractor specific risks from client-specific risks, and it must be used to accommodate contractor risks. moreover, the specific uses of contractor contingency should be well defined to preserve flexibility in its use for unforeseen incidence. hence, as per the literature review, most of the study had focused on contingency practices, and issues faced globally in construction projects by construction contractors and clients. however, specifically for indian companies’ scenario, little study has been done in addressing the issues of contingency management in indian construction projects. therefore, the current study aims to address specific issues raised in the literature review and attempted to investigate the core issues related to contingency management in indian construction projects. the literature review aided in identifying research variables, designing a questionnaire survey and selecting archival data from previously completed projects. 3. research methodology in the current study; two methods were adopted, the first method was the questionnaire survey, and the second method was the archival database analysis of 50 completed construction projects. the questionnaire survey method was mainly used for gathering required current data, and assessing key aspects and attributes, challenging related ideas provided by literature review. the surveyed construction companies professionals’ opinions/observations were measured for various areas/requirements as well as different levels of measurement considered for the study. archival database for the study was considered from 50 construction projects in india that had been completed between calendar year (cy) 2014 to 2019 to check project cost variance by analysing estimated project cost (with and without contingency) and final project cost for assessing contingency effectiveness in overcoming cost overruns problems faced during the execution stage. 3.1 sample population the sample population of the study included construction companies/contractors, vendors/suppliers, customers and consultants as per the database available on construction industry development council of india (cidc database) . the study had extracted construction companies’ details from cidc database; accordingly, the selection of construction companies was classified into five categories based on construction companies’ sectorial presence/nature of the business, annual turnover, employee strength, qualification of project professionals and project experience. the required sample population was drawn from construction companies in the road and highways, thermal and gas-based power plants, bridges and tunnels, airports, metros and other basic infrastructure sectors. the study had focused on category 1, 2 and 3 construction companies as category 4 and 5 was not considered due to its negligible size, inadequate experience in the construction sector and lesser contribution in the indian construction sector. details of the study population considered mentioned in table 1. table 1: details of sample population category 1 category 2 category 3 total construction companies 137 122 76 335 percentage 41 % 36 % 23 % 100 % 3.2 sampling technique and frame the study had preferred a mixture of unbiased sampling and snowball sampling due to difficulty in identifying the exact number of indian construction companies relevant to the study. the snowball sampling technique is a non-probability method, and that is usually used in research when the elements of a survey population are difficult to trace. unbiased sampling helped in covering the required sample population without overlooking any construction companies as per filter criteria from the cidc database. in the current study, the actual number of construction companies could not be established due to the presence of organised and unorganised players; hence a snowball sample was adopted which helped the study in obtaining the required data of indian construction companies as per selection criteria. therefore, considering the vast number of construction companies as per cidc database, study had focused on categories 1, 2 and 3 as it was difficult to capture relevant study data from all the construction companies, hence snowball sampling was necessary to make the survey possible. h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 11-24. 15 considering the study on sampling frame by ankrah (2007) and probable respondents for the survey, the sample population was adopted from cidc database, which provided required construction companies details. further to establish a suitable size for the sample as per the study observations undertaken by salant and dillman (1994), the preferable sample size for the 95% confidence level should be considered for the study. however, considering the possibilities of low response and difficult to obtain data from targeted 100 companies, ideal sample size considered for the survey was 335 construction companies which were 29.85% and within the range of 20 to 30% (as per the construction study conducted by takim, akintoye and kelly, 2003). table-2 below summarises questionnaire survey statistics table 2: questionnaire survey statistics surveyed project companies number of questionnaires circulated not responded by surveyed companies responded in % contractors 145 97 33.1 vendors/ suppliers 115 78 32.17 customers 42 31 26.19 consultants 33 29 12.12 total 335 235 29.85 table-3 shows the demographic profile of respondents which reveals that in terms of academic qualification of surveyed professionals 80% were graduates out of which 56% were engineering graduates which bolstered the affirmation that surveyed professionals had the required academic credentials for participating in the survey. moreover, considering survey requirements of requisite project experience, 86% had project experience between 10 and 20 years in construction projects. this displays that surveyed professionals were knowledgeable about the construction industry and capable of answering the questions as per questionnaire and study requirements. table 3: demographic profile of surveyed respondents category classification frequency percentage type of project companies contractor 41 41 vendor/ supplier 33 33 customer 14 14 consultant 12 12 academic qualification diploma 7 7 b.e/b.tech 56 56 other graduates 24 24 pg/phd 13 13 project experience 0 9 6 6 15-oct 52 52 15 20 34 34 21 and above 8 8 total 100 100 3.3 data collection methods 3.3.1 questionnaire survey a previous literature review (as mentioned in the literature review section) resulted in identifying various factors for the study. the main intent of using a questionnaire survey was to check the current scenario of contingency management, understanding contingency estimating methods, utilisation of contingency, bottlenecks along with areas of improvement for contingency management in surveyed indian construction companies. the questionnaire comprises two parts (refer appendix for details); the first part was used to cover required demographic information of respondents like name, type of project companies, academic qualifications, and project experience. at the same time, the second part focused on 12 relevant questions to gather required details related to areas/requirements as well as different levels of measurement considered for the study. each question had four options for the main consistency of the survey’s responses. for questions no. 3 to 12 in the questionnaire; against the selected option, the response had been captured on a five-point “likert scale or rating scale” extending from 1 to 5, where 1 denotes ‘strongly disagree or never’ and 5 denotes ‘strongly agree or very frequent’. furthermore, various factors that were considered in the design of the questionnaire included the following; a. the complexity of indian construction projects; b. the simplicity of collecting information from respondents and their experience of handling contingency and; c. collecting maximum possible relevant data for analysing and validating various research objectives as mentioned. accordingly, the questionnaire was prepared after benchmarking with similar studies conducted around the world. questionnaire distributions, as well as personal interviews, were conducted among 335 construction companies to achieve the desired aim of the study. the questions in questionnaire survey were structured with a purpose to test various contingency management parameters such as: a. objectives and strategies of contingency, b. factors that determine the percentage addition of contingency, c. involvement of key stakeholders, d. utilisation and exclusion of contingency, e. techniques of determining contingency, f. bottlenecks in contingency management, g. areas of improvement for efficient contingency management. the study had attempted to reduce the ambiguities of terminology and content of questions; accordingly, the questionnaire format was reviewed and validated by academic and industry experts. this helped in aligning questionnaires with the indian construction industry scenario and accordingly preliminary list of factors along with probable questions were reframed. based on experts, valuable observations and suggestions suitable modifications in the questions were incorporated in terms of framing of questions, logic, and selection of options for each question along with rearrangement of orders suitably. experts again reviewed the revised questionnaire 16 h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).11-24. and found that it provides the required clarity and captures relevant information for the study. 3.3.2 archival database to assess the effectiveness of contingency utilisation as one of the research objectives, the archival database of 50 indian construction projects completed between cy 2014 to 2019 was considered to obtain project specifics data such as estimated project cost, actual project cost, and contingency provision. the main intention of studying the archival database was to identify and assess contingency provision in estimated cost along with its effectiveness in overcoming cost overrun problems during the execution stage. research parameters considered for evaluation were project estimated or scheduled cost (sc), project actual cost (ac) and contingency provision. the selection pool of 50 indian construction projects for the archival database was considered based on the following criteria; • domain/ segment presence • project value in inr billion • construction project cost in % of total revenue • market share/position in the infrastructure domain • application of contingency reserve in terms of selected projects’ infrastructure sector presence, comprised of roads and highways (total no of companies15), power (15), railways and metros (10), urban infrastructures (5) and real estate (5) situated in different parts of india. the size of the companies in terms of turnover (revenue) ranged from us$ 7.2 million to greater than us$ 143 million (considering inr to us$ conversation rate of inr 70 = 1 us$ at the end of 31st march 2019) as shown in figure 1. construction project selection was made to check the level of project performance with and without consideration of contingency. figure 1: indian construction projects’ size in terms of turnover (revenue in us $) 3.4 data analysis tools the data obtained from the questionnaire survey were analysed using the spss (statistical package for social science) simple statistical tools that included rii (relative importance index), mean, standard deviation and ranking methods. survey data were captured against various parameters or options which were further analysed using percentage, which helps in ranking of selected options exercised by respondents. relative importance index (rii) was considered for two reasons; first for assigning ranking for option opted by survey respondents and second was to measure the impact of different factors and options selected by the respondents. a decision regarding rank for the opted option was taken using rii, where the highest rii for option considered first ranked and accordingly in descending orders for other rankings as per the study conducted by nurudeen (2002). rii was calculated based on the adopted 5-point likert scale by using the following formula. 𝑅𝐼𝐼 = 5𝑛5+4𝑛4+3𝑛3+2𝑛2+1𝑛1 5(𝑛5+𝑛4+𝑛3+𝑛2+𝑛1) (1) where: n5= strongly agree, n4 = agree, n3= neither agree or disagree, n2=disagree, n1= strongly disagree and n =total number of respondents (n5 + n4 + n3 + n2 + n1) similarly, a mean score was used to measure intermediate numerical values to respondents score. while standard deviation was used to measure the differences of each observation from the mean. simple statistical tools helped in ranking the option against each question for better analysis of questionnaire survey results. for assessing the effectiveness of contingency utilisation, cost variance (cv) was computed based on actual cost and scheduled or estimated cost captured from the archival database of 50 indian construction projects. data analysis intend to captured relevant results which were aligned with research objectives to obtained required research findings and accordingly, conclusion and recommendation have been made. 4. results and discussion of findings the survey findings and data interpretation of 100 respondents, along with archival data analysis of 50 indian construction projects are outlined below. 4.1 questionnaire survey findings this section depicts result interpretations of the questionnaire survey data collected and its research findings as underneath. construction cost in the percentage of project budget for indian construction companies as mentioned in the table-4, based on rii, mean and sd (standard deviation) scores, construction companies spend 85% to 90% of project budget ranked first and 80% to 85% of project budget ranked second. therefore, the majority of surveyed indian construction companies spend almost 80% to 90% of the project budget towards construction material, sub-contracting, payroll, overheads and facilities expenses. hence, an extensive portion of funds being spent towards capital works and therefore, any escalation in construction costs and project resource prices can significantly impact construction projects' operational and financial performance. the study findings are aligned with outcomes of baccarini, (2004) which shows that suitable contingency provision can cushion 0 5 10 15 20 25 between us $ 7.2 million to us $ 72 million between us $ 72 million to us $ 107 million between us $ 107 million to us $ 143 million more than us $ 143 million h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 11-24. 17 indian construction companies in overcoming cost overrun problems. table 4: construction cost in % of project budget parameter rii* mean sd** rank 85% to 90% 0.238 8.8 3.42 1 80% to 85% 0.234 7.6 1.82 2 75% to 80% 0.088 3 0.71 3 less than 75% 0.024 0.6 0.55 4 * relative importance index (rii) and **standard deviation (sd) 4.2 contingency consideration concerning estimated cost the contingency provision for project estimated cost is a tricky decision for construction companies as too low or a high level of a contingency can create cost overruns or over budget problems. hence, optimum consideration of contingency concerning estimated cost baseline (cbl) has been a crucial aspect as it impacts project performance of the current project and also decides fortune for future projects. table-5 shows that contingency consideration of 0 to 5% with respect to estimated cost had rii of 0.554, mean score of 14 and sd of 10.02 accordingly ranked first. while options 6 to 10% had an rii of 0.198, a mean score of 5 and an sd of 3.58 ranked second. likewise, option 11 to 15% based on rii, mean and sd score ranked third. study findings are aligned with the previous studies of amade et al. (2014) which illustrates that contingency is the inadequate provision of the estimated cost for overcoming cost overrun problems during execution. table 5: % of contingency with respect to estimated cost parameter rii mean sd rank 0 to 5 % 0.554 14 10.02 1 6 to 10 % 0.198 5 3.58 2 11 to 15 % 0.038 1 0.63 3 more than 15% 0 0 0 4 4.3 the objective of contingency management table 6: the objective of contingency management parameter rii mean sd rank safeguarding optimum project cost as per project bidding price 0.454 11 11.6 1 keeping project cost within pmb (performance measurement baseline) throughout project tenure 0.2 5 4.47 2 contributing to the overall project firms objective of managing and mitigating unforeseen risk exposure 0.078 2 1.73 4 ensuring meeting project cost and profit target 0.086 2 2.12 3 table 6 depicts the objective of contingency management as preferred by construction companies. data analysis shows that safeguarding optimum project cost as per project bidding price was the prime objective of contingency with rii of 0.454, mean score of 11, sd of 11.6 ranked first. this was followed by keeping the cost within cbl (cost base line) throughout project tenure and contributing to the overall project firms objective of managing and mitigating unforeseen risk exposure and ensuring meeting project cost and profit target were having rii of 0.2, 0.086 and 0.078 mean score of 5, 2, 2 and sd of 4.47, 2.12, 1.73 respectively had been ranked second, third and fourth respectively. study findings are aligned with observations of baccarini et al. (2003) which established that safeguarding project cost was the prime objective of indian construction companies. 4.4 involvement of key stakeholders in contingency management the results suggest that optimum estimation, along with an efficient implementation of a contingency, depends on the involvement of key stakeholders of construction projects. the results summarised in table 7 shows that the project proposal cell was the preferable stakeholder in a contingency management process having rr of 0.354, a mean score of 9, sd of 7.11 and ranked first. while other options based on their rii, mean and sd score ranked lower. these findings are aligned with remarks by anticona (2019) that the proposal cell is the key stakeholder in contingency management due to their involvement during the initiation stage and their influence in the decision-making process. table 7: involvement of key stakeholders in contingency management parameter rii mean sd rank project proposal cell 0.354 9 7.11 1 project planning cell 0.174 5 2.35 2 project execution cell 0.156 4 3.46 3 project finance and accounts cell 0.086 2 2.12 4 4.5 selection criteria for contingency the study seems to recommend that for effective delivery of operational and financial performance, it is paramount to have logical selection criteria for a contingency. table 8: selection criteria for contingency parameter rii mean sd rank assumption based on the addition of the sum of considering formal risk analysis of the project 0.272 7 4.95 1 based on the addition of sum reflecting in-built observation of risk 0.186 5 3.24 3 as per standard % laid down under s.o.ps** 0.218 6 3.39 2 suitable advice from project proposal or estimation cell 0.07 2 1 4 ** standard operating process table 8 shows that contingency was selected on an assumption basis was having rii of 0.272, a mean score of 7 and sd of 4.95 was ranked first. other options based on their rii, mean and sd score ranked in descending manner. 18 h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).11-24. 4.6 factors that determine the percentage addition of contingency to the estimated cost the study sought to find out the factors that establish the percentage addition of a contingency to the estimated cost. this question elucidated a mixed response from respondents. table 9 indicates that the amount and volume of project work and level of project rework had an rii of 0.296 and 0.258; a mean score of 8 and 7 with sd of 4.69 and 4 ranked first and second. meanwhile, project location and project-specific factors were ranked third and fourth as per rii, mean and sd scores. the study findings are aligned with outcomes of previous research by lorance et al. (2001) and alfred et al. (2010) which indicate that opinion was divided among construction companies regarding consideration of factors that determine the percentage addition of contingency to the estimated cost. . table 9: factors that determine the percentage addition of contingency to estimated cost parameter rii mean sd rank project location and geographical conditions 0.132 3.4 2.4 3 amount and volume of project work 0.296 8 4.69 1 level of project rework 0.258 7 4 2 project specific factors like the type of client and duration 0.072 2 1.22 4 4.7 utilisation of contingency contingency if it is fully utilised or partially utilised becomes an interesting investigating issue since; based on its current utilisation, its provision for the next project may be aligned appropriately. the findings in this category are summarised in table 10. the results reveal that 45% of companies rank contingency for accommodating cost overruns during the execution stage first with rii of 0.338, mean score of 9 and sd of 5.52. this is followed by errors/omissions in the estimation stage, with a mean score of 7 and sd of 4.06. at the same time, mitigating project risks and uncertainties and fulfilling project commitments are ranked third and fourth with mean scores of 2, 2 and sd of 1.22, 1, respectively. these findings are aligned with those of earlier observations by aace (2008) and hart (2007) which shows that contingency reserve was utilised in an unplanned manner based on a subjective approach in surveyed indian construction companies. table 10: utilisation of contingency parameter rii mean sd rank to accommodate errors/omissions in the estimation stage. 0.26 7 4.06 2 to accommodate higher project spending due to cost overruns 0.338 9 5.52 1 to mitigate project risk and uncertainties 0.072 2 1 4 to fulfil project commitments in terms of schedule, quality and performance 0.072 2 1.22 3 4.7 exclusion of contingency the current study has identified another interesting aspect to be examined, i.e. the exclusion of contingency as clear 'no' in terms of its utilisation. the findings of this survey as indicated in table 11 shows that contingency was not preferable for any change in project scope (mean score of 11 and sd of 9.67) and ranked first followed by project transferred risk, unexpected work stoppage and cost variations ranked second, third and fourth respectively based on its mean and sd scores. these research findings are aligned with recommendations by aace (2008) for the exclusions of contingency and prevention of contingency mistreatment. table 11: exclusion of contingency parameter rii mean sd rank project scope change 0.44 11 9.67 1 project unexpected work stoppage due to a strike or lockout. 0.128 3.4 2.07 3 project cost variations due to inflation and currency fluctuations 0.068 3 0.71 4 project transferred risk or risk being taken care of by project insurance 0.156 4 3.46 2 4.7 techniques of determining a contingency the technique for determining contingency was investigated in this study. the survey asked respondents to specify the preferred technique for a contingency estimation. table 12 highlights the techniques of determining contingency preferred by construction companies. the results indicate that the traditional percentage rate method based on historical performance (rii of 0.492, mean score of 12 and sd of 11.75) was ranked first while the project scheduling techniques (mean score of 4 and sd of 2.74) was ranked second. the findings are of concern because the traditional percentage rate method based on historical performance has several flaws which limit the effectiveness of contingency reserve in indian construction companies. table 12: techniques of determining contingency parameter rii mean sd rank traditional percentage rate based on the historical project performance 0.492 12 11.75 1 statistical methods like regression analysis and monte carlo simulation 0.128 3.7 2.07 3 project risk analysis and suggested outcome 0.154 4 2.74 2 project scheduling techniques like pert and cpm 0.038 1 0.71 4 result findings are aligned with the findings of baccarini (2004 and 2005) and khalafallah et al. (2005) which demonstrates that contingency estimation performed based on the conventional methods like h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 11-24. 19 perception, historical information and expert advice was arbitrary and illogical. the leading cause of cost overrun on construction projects. 4.8 bottlenecks in contingency management the research aimed to explore various bottlenecks in contingency management for indian construction companies. based on survey findings and analysis as indicated in table 13, the lack of clarity (rii of 0.258, mean score of 7 and sd of 5) was ranked first while ignorance or lack of clarity about s.o.ps/process (rii of 0.23, mean score of 6 and sd of 4.36) was ranked second. likewise, lack of coordination and non-availability of appropriate data was ranked third and fourth, respectively. overall data analysis shows that there was no clear consensus about the main bottlenecks in contingency management among the 50 indian construction companies surveyed. table 13: bottlenecks in contingency management parameter rii mean sd rank lack of clarity about the construction project’s objective on contingency management 0.258 7 5 1 ignorance or lack of clarity about s.o.ps/process of contingency management 0.23 6 4.36 2 lack of coordination between proposal and planning cell (in terms of proper estimation) and execution cell (in terms of effective utilisation) 0.164 4 4.12 3 non-availability of proper data and poor understanding of contingency mechanism and instruments 0.132 3.4 2.51 4 4.9 strategies for forecasting contingency table 14: strategies for forecasting contingency parameter rii mean sd rank at the time of submitting project bid 0.338 9 5.22 1 at the time of receiving project orders from customers 0.24 6 4.9 2 at the time of project execution and occurrence of cost overruns 0.198 5 3.87 3 no fixed timeline and forecasting strategy 0.068 2 0.71 4 one of the objectives of the research was to identify the strategies for forecasting contingency in indian construction companies. table 14 shows that at the time of submitting project bid (rii of 0.338, mean score of 9, sd of 5.22), at the time of receiving orders from customers (rii of 0.24, mean score of 6, sd of 4.9), at the time of project execution and occurrence of cost overruns (rii of 0.198, mean score of 5, sd of 3.87) and no fixed timeline and forecasting strategy (rii of 0.068, mean score of 2, sd of 0.71) were ranked first, second, third and fourth respectively. the results are aligned with those of previous findings by aibinu et al. (2002) which found that there was no well-placed strategy for forecasting contingency in indian construction companies. the same could be a dampener for contingency objectives in addressing undefined project risk and cost overrun problems in indian construction companies. 4.10 suggested areas of improvement for efficient contingency management an important objective of the current study was to explore areas of improvement for efficient contingency management on construction projects. the survey findings concerning this enquiry shown in table 15 indicates a mixed preference of surveyed professionals. the following options: identification of project contingency and execution strategy during project bid stage, project contingency management awareness, aligning of proposal and planning cell and execution cell activities and availability and access of project contingency database are ranked in descending order based on rii, mean score and sd details. table 15: areas of improvement for efficient contingency management parameter rii mean sd rank identification of project contingency and execution strategy during project bid stage 0.26 4 7 4.3 1 project contingency management awareness in terms of s.o.ps, process and role clarity among project professionals 0.24 6 6 5.8 7 2 aligning of proposal and planning cell (in terms of proper estimation) and execution cell (in terms of effective utilisation) activities 0.20 2 5 4.3 6 3 availability and access to project contingency management database 0.07 4 2 1.2 2 4 4.11 archival data analysis of 50 indian construction projects this section displays the interpretations of archival data based on the analysis of data collected from 50 indian construction projects. the study established that there is a disconnection between management expectations and opinions of the respondents surveyed through the questionnaire. therefore, it is prudent to measure quantitatively further the effectiveness of contingency utilisation expected by the construction companies’ management in overcoming cost overruns problems during the execution stage of the studied archival database of 50 indian construction projects completed between 2014 to 2019. the archived database was analysed statistically by using the scatter plot diagram. the primary intent of using 20 h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).11-24. the scatter plot diagram was to segregate outlier categories of construction projects from the pool of construction projects based on selected criteria like project value in inr billion, construction project cost in % of total revenue and application of a contingency reserve. this resulted in removing five construction projects out of 55 selected initially, which yielded 50 projects for the study. the next step was to check the project cost variation (cv) considering various types of project fluctuations which were computed by considering estimated project cost (with and without contingency) and final project cost. from the archival database, the estimated project cost and the final project cost were used in determining cost variance (which is the difference between estimated or scheduled project cost and final actual cost) and depicted in table 16. table 16: cost variance (in terms of size of the projects) of 50 indian construction projects cost variance in % (cv = sc* ac**) project size in inr 500 million to 5 billion project size in inr 5 billion to 7.5 billion project size in inr 7.55 billion to 10 billion project size in inr > 10 billion summary of projects no of projects % wise no of projects % wise no of projects % wise no of projects % wise no wise % wise (> 5 but < 10) 1 20 1 12.5 1 10 3 11.11 6 12 (< 5) 1 20 2 25.0 2 20 7 25.93 12 24 0 0 00 1 12.5 2 20 5 18.52 8 16 < 5 2 40 2 25.0 4 40 9 33.33 17 34 > 5 but < 10 1 20 2 25.0 1 10 3 11.11 7 14 total 5 100 8 100 10 100 27 100 50 100 * scheduled cost and ** actual cost table 16 shows that 12 (24%) of the completed construction projects were having negative cv (cost variance = scheduled cost – actual cost) up to 5% which includes seven projects valued at more than inr 10 billion, and five projects valued between inr 500 million to less than inr 10 billion. similarly, in six (12%) projects were having a negative cv between 5% to 10% out of which three projects were valued at more than inr 10 billion and another three projects were valued between inr 500 million to less than inr 10 billion. one of the observations for this outcome is that project estimators might have not thoroughly carried out a risk analysis of small and medium-size projects which might have resulted in subjective arrival of contingency provision. further, the result suggests that 37 (74%) of construction projects have their cost variation within the range of ± 5% means the estimated cost was within ± 5% of the actual cost. finally, 18 (36%) construction projects had negative cost variation between 0% to 10% out of which ten projects were valued at more than inr 10 billion which might be due to various reasons like inadequate planning and budgeting, improper project risk analysis and inefficient project execution. table 17: cost variance (with and without contingency) of 50 indian construction projects cost variance in % (cv = sc ac) no of projects without contingency no of projects with contingency total no of projects (> 5 but < 10) 8 6 -2 (< 5) 9 12 3 0 0 8 8 < 5 18 17 -1 > 5 but < 10 15 7 -8 total 50 50 0 the next analysis carried out was on the utilisation of contingency (if any), and its impact on project performance in the 50 indian construction projects studied. the results obtained are outlined in table 17. as per table 16, 33 projects (66%) are over-budgeted while with consideration of contingency 24 projects resulted in cost overrun. the archival data analysis findings are aligned with the outcomes suggested by musa et al. (2011), which concludes that contingency consideration was effective in overcoming cost overspending issues in nine out of 50 projects studied. 5. conclusions the contingency is a provision for indian construction companies to safeguard project budget against any sudden upswing or overspend which can adversely affect the operational and financial performance of construction projects. the study focused on indian construction companies to assess the current state; the issues faced in contingency management along with evaluating the effectiveness of contingency utilisation in overcoming cost overrun problems. the study used structured questionnaires to gather required data along with archival database analysis of 50 indian construction projects completed between 2014 to 2019. demographic details of the respondents indicate that 86% had between 10 and 20 years of experience in handling various infrastructure projects. this suggests that surveyed professionals have the requisite knowledge and could provide vital information in response to the questionnaire and study requirements. data analysis was undertaken using the spss (statistical package for social science) simple statistical tools that included rii (relative importance index), mean, standard deviation and ranking methods. based on the findings obtained from the survey and archival database analysis of indian construction companies (as outlined in the previous section), the study concludes as follows. h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 11-24. 21 • the prime objective of contingency management was to safeguard optimum project cost and keeping project costs within cost baseline. • contingency was utilised largely in an unplanned mode and having undefined strategies for its forecasting. • contingency was not utilised predominantly for project scope change and project transferred risk. • project proposal cell and project planning cell were the key stakeholders in the contingency management process. • in terms of key bottlenecks in contingency management, result analysis reveals that lack of clarity, s.o.ps, poor coordination among project stakeholders and unavailability of accurate project data are bottlenecks. • the study further established that there was no proven strategy for forecasting contingency in indian construction projects. based on result outcomes, it is evident that forecasting of contingency varies from bid submission time to construction project execution time along with cost overruns occurrences. • it emerged that project uncertainties prevailed continuously throughout the project life cycle, commencing from the project initiation stage and continuing up to project closeout stage. • the factor that establishes the percentage addition of contingency to estimated cost was found to depend on project location and geographical conditions to amount and volume of project work, level of project rework and project-specific factors like the type of client, scope clarity and duration—suggesting that contingency addition to estimated cost depends on project-specific factors. • it also emerged that the majority of indian construction companies preferred the traditional percentage method for estimating contingency of up to 10% of the estimated cost based on the historical performance of previous projects without consider ation of project risks. this is despite available evidence that the traditional percentage method has several limitations as it is based on a subjective approach hence unreliable • hence, the estimated co ntingency is inadequate and ineffective in overcoming cost overrun problems on indian construction projects • the problem of cost overrun could have been avoided with the consideration of suitable contingency in the cost baseline during the bidding stage. • also, that optimum estimation of contingency helps overcome cost overrun problems in the execution stage. 6. recommendations and direction of future research the study has tried to fulfil stated objectives based on a detailed analysis of the questionnaire survey and archival database. the interpretation of the results have yielded the following recommendations and direction of future research: a. construction companies should have a robust and adequate project budget plan along with appropriate and adequate contingency provision in the estimated cost for achieving project performance and scope commitments. b. construction projects should estimate contingency based on scientific techniques like project risk analysis and statistical methods in place of subjective approach (traditional percentage method) for accommodating cost overrun problems. c. in an ideal scenario, indian construction projects should consider the inclusion of optimum contingency (preferably up to 10%) in estimated cost during the planning stage in the absence of additional projectspecific information. d. contingency should be determined based on the amount and volume of work, level of project rework, project location and geographical conditions and other applicable project-specific factors. e. need for effective utilisation of a contingency plan by construction companies for defining scenarios to accommodate project unknown risks and cost overrun problems during the execution stage. f. it is further recommended that future research should focus on contingency management practices adopted by public and private sector infrastructure companies in india. as usual in those companies, the effect of project resource risk analysis is either neglected or inadequately considered in the estimated cost along with improper utilisation of contingency. references aace. 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(2003). probabilistic model for contingency. journal of construction engineering and management, 280-284. h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2). 11-24. 23 appendix: questionnaire sample (please tick mark selected option) demographic details 1. name: 2. type of project company: a. contractor b. vendor/supplier c. customer d. consultant 3. academic qualification a. diploma b. b.e/b.tech c. other graduates d. pg/phd 4. project experience a. 0 9 b. 10 15 c. 15 20 d. 21 and above questions 1. construction cost in % of project budget for indian construction projects a. 85% to 90% b. 80% to 85% c. 75% to 80% d. less than 75% 2. % of contingency reserve with respect to estimated cost considered in indian construction projects a. 0 to 5 % b. 6 to 10 % c. 11 to 15 % d. more than 15 % (please tick mark option on scale of 1-5, where 5 = strongly agree, 4 = agree, 3= neither agree or disagree, 2 = disagree and 1 = strongly disagree) 3. objective of contingency management for indian construction projects a. safeguarding optimum project cost as per project bidding price – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. keeping project cost within pmb (performance measurement baseline) throughout project tenure – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. contributing to the overall project firms objective of managing and mitigating unforeseen risk exposure – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. ensuring meeting project cost and profit target – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 4. involvement of key stakeholders of indian construction projects in contingency management a. project proposal cell – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. project planning cell – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. project execution cell – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. project finance and accounts cell – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 5. selection criteria for contingency by indian construction projects a. assumption based on addition of sum of considering formal risk analysis of project – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. based on addition of sum reflecting in-built observation of risk – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. as per standard % laid down under s.o.ps – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. suitable advice from project proposal or estimation cell – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 6. which are the factors that determine the percentage addition of contingency to the project estimated cost? a. project location and geographical conditions – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. amount and volume of project work – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. level of project rework – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. project specific factors like type of client, duration etc. – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 7. utilisation of contingency in indian construction projects a. to accommodate errors/omissions took-place in the estimation stage – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. to mitigate project risk and uncertainties – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. to accommodate higher project spending due to cost overruns – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. to fulfil project commitments in terms of schedule, quality and performance – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 8. exclusion of contingency in indian construction projects a. project scope change – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. project unexpected work stoppage due to a strike, lockout etc. – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. project cost variations due to inflation and currency fluctuations – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. project transferred risk or risk being taken care of by project insurance – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 9. techniques of determining contingency in indian construction projects a. traditional percentage rate based on the historical project performance – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. statistical methods like regression analysis, monte carlo simulation etc. – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. project risk analysis and suggested outcome – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. project scheduling techniques like pert and cpm – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 10. bottlenecks in contingency management in indian construction projects a. lack of clarity about the construction project’s objective on contingency management – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. ignorance about s.o.ps/process of contingency management – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. lack of coordination between proposal and planning cell (in terms of proper estimation) and execution cell (in terms of effective utilisation) – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. non-availability of proper data and poor understanding of project contingency reserve mechanism and instruments – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 11. strategies for forecasting contingency in indian construction projects a. at the time of submitting a bid – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. at the time of receiving an order from the customer – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. at the time of project execution and cost overruns occasions – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 24 h. maniar / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).11-24. d. no fixed timeline and forecasting strategy – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 12. areas of improvement for efficient contingency management for indian construction projects a. identification of project contingency and execution strategy during project bid stage – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) b. project contingency management awareness in terms of s.o.ps, process and role clarity among project professionals – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) c. aligning of proposal and planning cell (in terms of proper estimation) and execution cell (in terms of effective utilisation) activities – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) d. availability and access to project contingency management database – (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) jcbm (2020) 4(2).34-45. correlation analysis between risk measurement and project success of small and medium contractors in gauteng, south africa b. y. renault 1 , j. n. agumba 2 and n. ansary 3 1department of construction management and quantity surveying, school of civil engineering and the built environment, univeristry of johannesburg, south africa. 2&3 department of building sciences, faculty of engineering and the built environment, tshwane university of technology, south africa. received 18 april 2020; received in revised form 19 june 2020 and 10 august 2020; accepted 19 september 2020. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2.884 abstract risk measurement (rm) and construction project success (ps) are closely related. preceding studies highlight the importance of rm in the management of risks without revealing its effect on ps. this study aims to determine the influence of rm on the ps of small and medium enterprises (smes). a positivist research design was applied using a survey questionnaire circulated to 181 respondents in gauteng, south africa (sa). raw data analysed using inferential statistics extracted onecomponent solution and evinced statistical significance (p=0.000<0.05) between rm and ps. in particular, results revealed that rm significantly influences ps of construction smes through delimiting the rm criteria to be adopted, establishing the level of acceptable risk and risk timeframe relevant to risk effect and risk likelihood. it is suggested that the management of smes and industry professionals involved in risk management should adopt rm for the management of their project risks to accomplish project objectives effectively. the study renders new empirical evidence of risk management factors that influence ps of smes in the context of sa. it remains to be seen whether the current finding could be replicated in other datasets. if indeed that is the case, then this article expands to the discourse and literature on rm of smes. however, the current findings cannot be generalised due to the restrictions pertaining to the geographical area and respondents. keywords: contractors, correlation analysis, factor analysis, project success, risk measurement. 1. introduction this study seeks to establish the influence of rm on construction ps of small and medium enterprises (smes). considering the argument that risk matters and that it affects how managers and stakeholders make decisions, it follows logically that rm is a critical step towards managing risks. canbolat and gümrah (2015) observed the contrast between risk management and rm and defined risk management as the inclusive process that an organisation follows to outline a business strategy, to detect potential risks, to quantify them, and to understand and control their nature, while rm is a component of risk management that deals with the evaluation of risk exposures. a sample of smes was solicited to value the extent to which their company performs risk measurement 1 corresponding author. email address: renault08@yahoo.fr practices at their project level. it was anticipated that the knowledge generated from this study would afford new insights and so inform risk management practice. this research employed a quantitative methodology to illustrate the topic under examination. it included a conveniently sampled group consisting of 181 respondents of established construction smes. this study begins with a background that frames the study. following this is the relevant literature which included: the need for risk management in the ci, an overview of construction smes in sa, risk management in smes, risk measurement, past risk management models, classification of risks, project success, and accompanying model constructs and hypothesised relationship. also included in this study are the research methods, presentation of results, and discussion of university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.2. mailto:renault08@yahoo.fr b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. 35 findings. the study concludes with some contributions and limitations as well as areas for future work. 1.1 background although the construction industry (ci) is indubitably known for its importance in economic development through employment provision and infrastructure development (nawaz et al., 2019; mwangi & ngugi, 2018), it has also been criticised for its poor performance (osuizugbo, 2019; muzondo & mccutcheon, 2018). according to potensis (2017), the construction sector accounts for 7% of global employment and contributes 10% to the global gross domestic product (gdp). some factors attributable to the poor performance of the industry are the undesirable health and safety (h&s) record (rehacek, 2017a; sayilir & farhan, 2017), the recurrence of projects delivered over-budgeted cost, scheduled time and often not at the expected client’s satisfaction levels (albasara et al., 2018; chileshe et al., 2016). however, these projects are predisposed to a high degree of risk; a reoccurring phenomenon in construction that, if it materialises, can deviate the project from its preestablished goals. the materialisation of time and cost risk can, in extreme cases, incapacitate the economic look of a project, thereby turning a potentially lucrative organisation into an unsuccessful company (sifumba et al., 2017). the effects thereof may be quantified using many terms: increase cost, time overruns, destruction of property, injury to people, and at times a combination of all of these. it follows that management of risk, which might imperil the successful completion of a project is important to achieve ps. risk management often commences with the identification of potential risks which is then followed by the rm phase, where the potential impact of risk is assessed, and risk responses are formulated. al-ajmi and makinde (2018) clarified in their study that when conducted, rm helps quantify and place risks in some order of priority and highlights decisions to be made early, hence increases the likelihood of ps. they added that the effectiveness of subsequent stages of risk management usually depends on the evaluation of the likelihood and magnitude of risk. 2. need for risk management in the ci nawaz et al. (2019) indicated that the ci is constructed around project-based organisations (pbos) with short term and transient nature. this industry is inherently flexible and reconfigurable, adept at carrying out undefined and diverse tasks (ibid.). pbos support businesses to attain success through managing complex services, responding to fast-changing markets, providing customer-focused innovation, coping with technical uncertainty, and offering cross-functional business expertise (dandage et al., 2018). however, despite these potential advantages, the industry is faced with boundless uncertainties, as a result of the projects’ multifaceted activities with clearly defined goals, resources, and time targets. the ci comprises contracting and sub-contracting enterprises, engineering consultants, quantity surveyors, architects, suppliers and can cover a great variety of projects in engineering, building, offshore structures, and industrial plants which encompasses vast employment opportunities. moreover, projects in the ci are inclined to more risks and uncertainties than other sectors (maseko, 2017). to undertake a project from its conception to its completion, the activities and transformation within pbos involve complex, frequently bespoke, and include timeconsuming design and costly production processes (kotb & ghattas, 2018). projects are based on teamwork with varied skilled and interested stakeholders, and the cooperation among them is formed around extensive, dissimilar, and interconnected processes (muchenga, 2016). such complexity is further exacerbated by several external environmental factors (chileshe et al., 2016). regardless of the heterogeneity and importance of the ci with its intrinsic risks, risk management has been sparsely applied and practised in recent years (moshesh et al., 2018) and its reputation in contrast with other industries is relatively weak (simota et al. (2017). furthermore, although research into risk management abounds, there has been a scarcity of empirical studies that pursue to examine rm, the relationship between risk management factors and ps, specifically, the relationship between rm and ps of construction smes. 2.1 construction smes in south africa the definition of smes based on the number of employees differs across nations. in the european union (eu), smes are referred to as those enterprises with less than 250 employees for medium-sized enterprises. certain nations put a boundary of 200 employees. in the united states of america (usa), a medium-sized enterprise is a firm with 500 or fewer employees. smallsized enterprises, in contrast, are those firms with less than 50 employees while micro-enterprises employ up to 10 employees in the usa and eu. the magnitude of annual revenues is also used as a determinant in defining smes (madani, 2018). in the eu, enterprises with annual revenue of not more than 50 million euro are considered medium-sized enterprises, those with revenue equal to or fewer than 10 million euro are considered small enterprises while enterprises with annual revenue fewer or equal to 10 million euro are considered micro-enterprises. the sa definition of smes in the ci based on the number of employees and annual turnover differ slightly from those of the eu and usa. the industry typically consists of dissimilar sizes of companies that is, micro, very small, small, medium, and large contractors (national small business act amended in 2004). these contractors can be differentiated from one another by their annual turnover, capacity, and extent of their fixed assets. medium-sized contractors are referred to by the national small business act (2004) as those contractors having between 50 and 200 full-time employees, with an average total annual turnover ranging from zar6m to zar26m and a total gross asset value (fixed property) ranging from zar1m to zar5m. as for small contractors, they are defined as enterprises employing less than 50 full-time employees, with average total annual amount turnover fewer than zar6m2 with a total gross asset value (fixed property) of fewer than zar1m. this study employed this definition given that previous studies (muzondo & mccutcheon, 2018; naude & chiweshe, 2017) in sa have employed it. 36 b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. the sme construction sector is central to the sa economy. it is reported that 78.5% of firms in the saci are smes and the industry employed 1 395 000 people, accounting for 9, 6% on average of gdp between 2008 and 2016 (statssa, 2018). however, these enterprises are viewed as high-risk enterprises since their entry, and exit levels in the market are high. it is believed that 70% of construction smes fail in their first year of existence (construction industry development board (cidb), 2017). the reasons for the high failure rate of construction smes are numerous and diverse. some studies (rambo & oketch, 2018; leboea, 2017) mention compliance with legislation, resource scarcity, rapidly changing technology, lack of management skills, and lack of management commitment. others (rungani & potgieter, 2018; muzondo & mccutcheon, 2018) highlight factors such as managerial incompetence, lack of managerial experience, inadequate planning, and poor financial control. however, a recent study (mafundu & mafini, 2019) found that in sa, smes lack the skills to implement risk management and are generally inadequately equipped to deliver projects successfully. 2.2 risk management in smes according to hwang et al. (2014), not only smes encounter more uncertainties and challenges than large enterprises but also, they lack resources to respond promptly to hazards that have the potential to engender massive losses and even bankruptcy of the firm. as a result, smes need to practise risk management much more than large enterprises (zoghi, 2017) and consider risk management as an integral part of the business management to keep the firms viable and productive (naji & ali, 2017). however, in order to attain a competitive edge and increase the rate of success of their business, smes need to make risky decisions and participate in risky activities so that they can protect the innovativeness of delivering projects (hove & banjo, 2018). albasara et al. (2018) explained that construction professionals’ inadequate level of knowledge in risk identification, risk analysis, risk response strategies, and communication affected the implementation of risk management. in line with this statement, rehacek (2017a) indicated that even management with regular use of risk management finds it difficult to understand the rationale for and formal process of risk management in new projects. diversity in parties' perceptions in a construction project invites undesirable biases in decision making, which makes the process of managing risk more complex (naji & ali, 2017). many researchers (moshesh et al., 2018; al-ajmi & makinde, 2018; sayilir & farhan, 2017) believe that few organisations practise formal risk management systems with analytical approaches in assessing risks. in their study, the ‘human problem’ was identified as the initial hindrance for risk management implementation. furthermore, in examining the impact of projects’ characteristics on risk management implementation in construction enterprises, chileshe et al. (2016) stressed that the time commitment is related to many aspects of risk identification and analysis. in the same way, fernando et al. (2018) concluded that organisations in the ci irregularly practise formal risk management owing to the projects’ just-in-time characteristics. similarly, van winsen et al. (2016) found out that the ‘organisation problem’ was the main factor that prevents construction organisations from implementing risk management. lack of time and lack of dedicated resources were also identified as significant hindrances to risk management adoption. baloyi and ozumba (2020) also asserted that the development of a risk management framework is a time-consuming process that is, at times, inconsistent with projects’ allocated budgets. recent research within the context of developing economies indicated that lack of experience, inadequate information, and awareness of risk management processes are the most significant challenges which affect the implementation and practice of risk management in the ci (jaskowski & biruk, 2019; rwelamila, 2018; firmenich, 2017). however, in contrast, ‘time and resources constraints’ were ranked least important. omer and adeleke (2019) found that the low level of familiarity with techniques and the inability to recognise the benefits of the process were the most influential factors which impact the adoption of risk management. teuma (2019) stated that due to the manpower size of smes in the industry, they mostly suffer from inadequacy of facilities to provide risk management training. this is also compounded by the absence of a holistic approach for risk management in standards and professional bodies which makes both understanding and implementation of risk management more complicated (oduoza et al., 2017). conversely, szymansk (2018) argued that all enterprises, including smes, need to adopt risk management in order to identify, evaluate risk, and respond to potential threats. fernando et al. (2018) believe that risk management would be an impossible task if risks cannot be measured; that without measuring risk, it will be almost impossible for an organisation to ascertain what actions to take to enhance opportunities and limit threats and the related consequences of risks, should they eventuate. 2.3 risk measurement (rm) the overall aim of rm is to identify and measure the significant exposures in terms of possible loss to the organisation (williams, 2016). some authors defined rm as the process of quantifying and placing risks in some order of priority and highlights decisions to be made (simota et al., 2017), the evaluation of the likelihood and extent (magnitude) of risk (acharya et al., 2017). others (deloach, 2018; naude & chiweshe, 2017) explained the distinction between rm and a risk measure and defined rm as the process of applying measures to enumerate the risk, while a risk measure was defined as the operation that assigns a value to risk. any enterprise needs to be able to quantify risk before deciding whether the specific risk is perilous enough to commit resources to manage (alajmi & makinde, 2018). if such resources have been committed, then the organisation needs rm to see whether the risk management process has minimised risk. it has been generally acknowledged that rm is conducted by using probability and statistical analysis of historical data (segal, 2019). the probability that risk will b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. 37 occur is a measure of its likelihood of occurrence. as a result, “standard deviation” is the most common unit now used for rm. however, canbolat and gümrah (2015) argued that evaluating risk measurement by computing the relative frequency of known events is often inappropriate, untrustworthy, and misleading as underreporting could occur. moreover, omer and adeleke (2019) observed that using historical data usually does not reflect the probable severity of an occurrence, simply the consequence; they reflect results, not causes. 2.4 past risk management models many risk management and measurement models have been developed in recent years. for example, firmenich (2017) investigated the relationship between risk management and ps. the model comprises risk management components which include: risk planning, risk identification, risk measurement, risk response planning, and risk monitoring and review. risk measurement was defined by a classification system of high, medium, and low risk. it was found that risk measurement did not influence the subjective performance of the project. however, respondent rated risk measurement as one of the key components of risk management. it was observed that the decision as to which measures should be employed to respond to risks depend on the risk measurement criteria used. simota et al. (2017) study concluded that risk measurement, when applied assists in placing risks in some order of priority and highlights decisions to be made. risk measurement was termed as the risk measurement criteria to be employed in evaluating risk and was defined in terms of risk materiality, risk terminology, and risk timeframe. risk terminology which classifies the impact and probability or risk occurring was found to be the measurable indicator of risk measurement in projects of smes. similar conclusions were drawn in naude and chiweshe’s (2017) research on smes in sa. however, in their study, risk measurement was also defined by risk timeframe in addition to risk terminology. it was found that when used, risk timeframe warns when the risk will impact the project, should it occur. furthermore, the level of acceptable risk was found to be a core measuring statement of risk measurement in a study conducted by szymansk (2017). knowing that realistically risk often cannot be curtailed to zero, acceptable risks may help set realistic targets for risk management. however, al-ajmi and makinde (2018) found that management may be uncertain about defining their acceptable level of risk owing to a lack of knowledge of the process underlining threats which can negatively affect project objectives. the measures mentioned above are common in risk management after risk has been identified. although the use of different measures in the literature indicates the lack of consent of what should constitute risk measurement, and knowing that new models and concepts that govern risk measurement will develop continuously as a result of the changing construction business milieu, the measures used in the current literature were embraced as the measuring statements of risk measurement in the study. therefore, the foregoing intended to facilitate the measuring of risk measurement: • risk measurement to be employed. this indicates a classification system to be used (high, medium or low), or numbers ranging from 1 to 10 with 1=extremely rare or negligible risks and 10= almost certain or catastrophic risks. • risk materiality, i.e. indicating when risk is significant. • risk timeframe. relevant to risk effect and risk likelihood. i.e. when is risk supposed to eventuate • risk terminology. i.e. the use of terms such as impact/consequence/effect and likelihood/probability/frequency. • level of acceptable risk. i.e. the risk tolerance level of the project utilised to direct the flow of project resources. in order to facilitate data analysis, each measure was assigned a label, as presented in table 1. table 1: respondents’ profile factor measures label risk measurement (rm) define the risk measurement to be used rm1 defines the risk materiality rm2 defines the risk timeframe rm3 clarify the risk terminology rm4 determine the level of acceptable risk rm5 2.5 classification of risks risk classification seeks to structure the numerous risks affecting construction projects. various classifications have been suggested in the literature. al-ajmi and makinde (2018) outlined a list of risk factors emanated from various sources: financial risks, construction risks, and design risks. in another view, the source of risks was used as a basis for their categorisation as physical risks, personal risk, technical risk, safety risks, design risks, political and regulatory risks, financial risks, and contractual risks (nawaz et al., 2019). according to szymansk (2017), risks in construction are in the categories of risks bearable by contractors, consultants, and clients. although risks can be classified differently, nawaz et al. (2019) argued that the motivation for choosing a classification must serve the aim of the research. since the main study aimed to establish the influence of rm practices on ps, it was therefore important to identify the risks that can significantly influence project success. in the current study, the success of a building project could be regarded as the completion of a building within budgeted cost, scheduled time, at the required quality, and without h&s issues. naji and ali (2017) hold the view that there is more to successful project outcome than just focusing on the triple dimensions time, cost, and quality. consequently, risks were classified in the study based on their impact on cost, time, quality, and h&s requirements, substantiating rehacek (2017a). they were, therefore termed as timerelated risk, cost-related risks, quality-related risks, and h&s related risks. 2.6 project success (ps) previous studies have investigated the outcome measures of ps in construction. most of them have suggested 38 b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. various outcome measures. for instance, osuizugbo (2019) and albasara et al. (2018) suggested scheduled time, budgeted cost, and desired quality as the leading success outcome measures. these were referred to as the iron triangle. however, szymansk (2017) stated that although other measures of ps have emanated, the iron triangle is nearly quoted in every ps related study; ps measures should not be circumscribed to the iron triangle. as a result, the latter believe that ps measures should include achievement of design goals, impact on the enduser, organisational success, benefits to the country’s national infrastructure in addition to the iron triangle. okereke (2017) identified seven (7) measures of ps, which comprised the iron triangle and the other four (4) metrics. the four metrics are resolving key operational issues, technical performance, end-user, and project team’s satisfaction, and h&s. according to naude and chiweshe (2017), the project is an utter success if it reaches the operational and technical requirements to be performed, and if there is contentment between the ultimate end-user and project team members concerning the project result. williams (2016), on the other hand, recommended including the absence of legal claims as a dimension of a successful outcome in sme projects. this implies the significance of incorporating safety as a success dimension given that it is rational to foresee that if unfortunate incidents occur, contract delay, financial loss, and legal claims may be incurred by both contractors and clients. the use of diverse parameters of ps outcome is an indication that there is no consensus in the literature pertaining to the measures of defining project success in smes projects. despite the vagueness in defining ps outcome, this paper identified five (5) measures as tabulated in table 2. table 2. project success measures project success outcome label source meet time objectives for key milestones ps1 osuizugbo (2019) albasara et al. (2018) osuizugbo (2019) meet cost objectives for the project ps2 osuizugbo (2019) albasara et al. (2018) osuizugbo (2019) albasara et al. (2018) meet quality objectives for the project ps3 osuizugbo (2019) albasara et al. (2018) osuizugbo (2019) albasara et al. (2018) meet the required health and safety levels ps4 williams (2016) meet expected client’s satisfaction levels ps5 okereke (2017) naude and chiweshe (2017) 2.7 model constructs and hypothesised relationship figure 1 depicts the conceptual framework used in the study. the rectangles denote the measurable variables, while the ovals denote the observed variables. the framework depicts the influence of rm on ps as well as their hypothesised relationship. rm and ps were named explanatory and response variables, respectively. five measures determined each variable; measures of rm included: 1) define the risk measurement to be used; 2) define the risk materiality; 3) define the risk timeframe applicable to risk impact and risk probability; 4) clarify the risk terminology; and 5) determine the level of acceptable risk. those of ps are 1) time objective; 2) cost objective; 3) quality objective; 4) health and safety levels; and 5) client satisfaction levels. the relationship between the variables is discussed below. figure 1. conceptual framework according to firmenich (2017), defining and documenting rm is central to project success. the author pointed out that rm helps elucidate the risk measurement criteria to be adopted, determine risk materiality, define the level of acceptable risk and risk timeframe relevant to risk effect, and risk likelihood. simota et al. (2017) study concluded that in order to attain project outcomes effectively, a project team has to outline a classification rule set for each applicable impact type. similarly, it was observed that rm, when applied, can determine the significant influences on ps and consequently help determine the effects of uncertainty. supporting the latter statement, williams (2016) indicated that rm criteria is an advanced activity of risk management system and established that when it is applied, it lessens risk impact in terms of schedule, budget as well as quality. from the above discussion, it can be said that there is a relationship between rm and ps; therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed for testing: h0: risk measurement does not have a positive influence on project success. h1: risk measurement has a positive influence on project success. 3. research methods the study adopted a quantitative method based on a positivist paradigm, employing a structured questionnaire. an in-depth review of related literature was primarily undertaken to specify the variables and their measurable statements. the questionnaire was piloted, reviewed, and amended by experts and a professional statistician for ease of data analysis before being selfdistributed to construction smes in gauteng. the rationale for choosing gauteng as the study area is that not only it is the economic hub of sa contributed to 34% of the gdp of the entire country (the real economy bulletin, 2016) but also due to the large concentration of contractors in the province. the data gathered were analysed using spss software package version 23, computing both descriptive (frequency and central tendency) and inferential statistics (exploratory factor analysis (efa) and multiple regression analysis (mra)). a detailed methodology is presented hereunder. rm1-rm5 ps1-ps5 rm ps the explanato ry variable response variable b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. 39 3.1 sample and sampling design the sample size was obtained using the general rule of thumb based on an estimated population of 661 retrieved from the cidb website. the survey targeted contractors graded from 1 to 6 (denotes small and medium enterprises) of the cidb grading system. there are nine grades of contractors in the saci, ranging from 1 to 9. the criteria for selecting the study population was that respondents must be operating at the management level of the enterprise and be working for established construction smes with valid registration with the cidb register of contractors. convenience sampling was used to identify and select respondents who included owners, quantity surveyors, project and construction managers. 3.2 research instrument the research instrument comprised five parts with a covering letter that delineated the research aim. sections 1 to 4 reported respectively on basic information about the respondent and the company, project risks, obstacles to risk management implementation, and risk management practices. section 5 profiled questions related to risk management factors and performance outcomes of projects. forty-two (42) variables that defined nine (9) risk management constructs were identified from an extant literature review. the current paper reported the results of one (1) construct only: risk measurement. respondents were solicited to value the extent to which their company performs the identified risk measurement variables, using a closed-ended 5-point likert scale-type questions. the responses were: 1=to no extent, 2= a low extent, 3= a moderate extent, 4=a large extent, 5=a very large extent. in total, 225 survey questionnaires were circulated to construction smes using drop and collection methods. a total of 187 were returned, yielding a response rate of 83%. conversely, six questionnaires were discarded owing to several ambiguities (missing data or information inappropriately filled in). therefore, the remaining 181 were all utilised for the empirical analysis and conformed to the recommended sample size for regression analysis. this equates to a response rate of 80% which is considered high and could have been because of the method employed to gather data in the current study which has also yielded a high response rate in previous studies (naude & chiweshe, 2017; sifumba et al., 2017) conducted on construction smes in sa. 3.3 validity and reliability construct validity and reliability of the rm and ps measures were also assessed. in order to achieve construction validity, content validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity were scrutinised. content validity was achieved through an in-depth literature review, expert reviews, and pilot-testing the survey with 15 top management personnel who were knowledgeable of the risk management practices they have been using for the management of their project risks. convergent validity was verified by inspecting whether the scores of items load together on a sole component. according to hair et al. (2018), factor loadings of values ranging between 0.40 and 0.45 are considered significant for a sample size of 150 and 200, respectively. the sample size of the current study is 181, and a threshold of 0.40 was embraced. all the items loaded strongly on the single component with values above 0.40 (table 6); hence convergent validity was supported. next, discriminant validity was tested by examining the variable correlation matrix (table 4). the correlation between the variables should not exceed 0.70 (ibid.). the item intercorrelations for all the variables in the construct attained correlations below 0.70, signifying that discriminant validity was demonstrated. contrarily, reliability was achieved by computing the internal consistency of the variables employing cronbach’s alpha coefficient. a lower boundary of 0.70 is often recommended (pallant, 2016.). however, a lenient threshold of 0.60 is prevalent in exploratory research, and coefficients near 1 imply good internal consistency reliability for the scale (ibid.). the study adopted a threshold of 0.60. the cronbach alpha coefficients ranged from 0.907 to 0.933 for measures of risk measurement with an overall coefficient of 0.935. for measures of project success, the coefficients ranged from 0.659 to 0.852 with an overall coefficient of 0.786. these values were all above the threshold of 0.60, suggesting that the instrument is reliable. this is consisting of hair et al. (2018) recommendation. 3.4 analysis of data both descriptive and inferential (factor analysis (fa) and mra, respectively) statistics were used in the study. descriptive statistics were applied to examine demographic information. there are two main approaches to fa: exploratory factor analysis (efa) and confirmatory factor analysis (cfa). this study employed efa to test the factorability of the data set. hair et al. (2018) contend that efa is useful for creating new theories or creating a new construct that does not exist and do not set any a priori constraints on the number of components to be extracted. whereas fa takes a confirmatory approach when the researcher has preconceived thoughts on the actual structure of the data, based on theoretical support or prior research; that is to assess the degree to which the data meet the expected structure. in other words, cfa is used for testing (confirming) instruments that have been tested in previous studies (instruments or scales that have extensively been tested for their validity and reliability). the study is exploratory, and the concept explored is new. furthermore, the methods used in the study do not directly provide the necessary structure for formalised hypothesis testing. therefore, efa is an appropriate factor analytic technique for this study. preliminary considerations were checked before conducting efa: the suitability of the data set, factor extraction, rotation, and interpretation. the suitability of the data was achieved by satisfying the sample size prerequisite of 150+ (pallant, 2016). the current sample size of 181 is greater than the recommended size. bartlett’s test of sphericity (p≤0.05, signifies statistical significance) and the kaiser-meyerolkin (kmo) measure of sampling adequacy were also generated to help assess the suitability of the data. factor extraction was assessed using kaiser's criterion and the scree test. factor rotation and interpretation of underlying 40 b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. structures of the theorised variables were achieved using oblimin with kaiser normalisation. missing data were eliminated using listwise deletion. outliers were identified by checking the scatterplot, which revealed data points that are outliers and away from the main cluster of points. these were removed from the data set. mra was conducted to explore the correlation between rm and ps, by establishing the influence of rm on ps of smes. prelusive analyses were carried out not to violate assumptions of generalisability (sample size), multicollinearity and singularity, normality, outliers, and linearity and homogeneity of variance (homoscedasticity). the current sample size is 181; hence, the sample size of n> 50 + 8m, where n denotes the number of independent variables under study was met (tabachnick & fidell, 2019). multicollinearity among variables was used to eliminate collinearity; two methods were used; the tolerance and variance inflation factor (vif). cut-off points of values less than 0.10 for tolerance and above 10 for vif signify the presence of multicollinearity (pallant, 2016). therefore, this study used the proposed cut-off points to identify the multicollinearity among the variables. running correlations ensured singularity among independent variables (from the main study). the results revealed bivariate correlations of coefficients which ranged from 0.304 to 0.630. these coefficients were all less than the recommended value of 0.90 (tabachnick & fidell, 2019). multivariate analysis was used to assess normality and the presence of outliers in the data. normality of data was assessed through statistical (skewness and kurtosis), graphical approaches (histograms and box plots), and the kolmogorov-smirnov test. statistical approaches established that the data was slightly non-normal. the non-normality of the data was rectified by maximum likelihood estimation. an inspection of the box plot of each variable was used to identify outliers. few outliers were identified; hence no items were removed in the study. a scatterplot was used to assess the homoscedasticity and independence of residuals. mra was subsequently applied to establish the extent to which project success of smes is influenced by risk measurement. the standardised beta weight of the explanatory variable was inspected to scrutinise the statistical significance and relative contribution of the variable. the beta coefficients indicate how strongly the explanatory variable influences the response variable. consequently, the higher the beta value, the greater the influence of the explanatory variable on the response variable. due to the nature of the study, which requires statistical significance, p< 0.05 was adopted as the statistical level of significance, in line with field (2013). the null hypothesis was rejected for a p-value smaller than 0.05. 4. results 4.1 demographic profile of the respondents among the respondents, 30.90% were owners, 22.10% were owner-managers, 17.10% were project managers, and 15.50% were managers. other positions such as quantity surveyors and civil engineers were represented by 14.40%, indicating the various types of professions represented in the industry. 22.90% of the respondents had matriculation, 2.80% had no qualification, and 14.50% had attended basic schooling. the remaining 59.80% had graduated with a post-secondary school qualification (1.70% had a doctorate, 6.10% had a master’s degree, 15.10% had an honours/btech/bsc degree, 16.20% had a higher national diploma/diploma and 20.70% had another certificate). the percentage of respondents with post-secondary school qualification implies that the respondents are qualified to respond to the questions. in terms of years of experience in construction and type of contractor, it was found that 18.10% of respondents had construction experience ranging from 1 to 5 years, 28.90% had experience ranging from 6 to10 years, 30.80% had between 11-20 years of experience, 16.80% had between 21-35 years of experience, while only 5.40% had over 36 years of experience in construction. the year bracket 11-20 (30.80 %) predominate construction experience, followed by 6-10 (28.90%) and 21-35 (16.80%). this demonstrates that the respondents have spent a considerable number of years in the ci and are, therefore, familiar with rm practices. 38.20% of these contractors were sub-contractors, 32% were general contractors, and 29.80% were either civil contractors (6.70%), specialist contractors (18%), or home building contractors (5.10%). these results indicate the involvement of smes in various types of business. 4.2 success factors for social licence acquisition 4.2.1 risk measurement (rm) raw data were analysed using spss version 23, computing efa. before computing efa, the appropriateness of the data set for factor analysis was computed. the kmo, which is an adequate indicator to check the sample adequacy, recorded a value of 0.837(table 3), above the suggested threshold of 0.60. further, bartlett’s test rendered a p-value of 0.000 (<0.05), implying statistical significance and therefore, a possibility of conducting factor analysis (pallant, 2016). table 3: kmo and bartlett’s test kaiser-meyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy 0.837 bartlett's test of sphericity approx. chi-square 881.528 df 10 sig. 0.000 next, correlation matrix (table 4) which shows how an item is related with other items of the scale disclosed several coefficients above 0.30, ranging from 0.603 to 0.870, indicating that the five measures (rm1, rm2, rm3, rm4, and rm5) were good measures of the factor risk measurement. likewise, communalities (table 5) yielded coefficients greater than the threshold of 0.50 (hair et al., 2018), signifying that each item satisfactorily relates to other items. therefore, these items similarly share the common core of the construct that is supposed to measure. b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. 41 table 4. correlation matrix rm1 rm2 rm3 rm4 rm5 correlation rm1 1.000 rm2 0.603 1.000 rm3 0.806 0.636 1.000 rm4 0.718 0.786 0.809 1.000 rm5 0.644 0.864 0.711 0.870 1.000 note: coefficients above 0.30 are bolded table 5. communalities initial extraction rm1 1.000 0.707 rm2 1.000 0.762 rm3 1.000 0.787 rm4 1.000 0.885 rm5 1.000 0.846 extraction method: principal component analysis the choice on the number of components to extract was based on eigenvalues, total variance explained (table 6), and scree-plot (figure 2). of the five measures supposed to measure risk measurement, only one component/item (shown in bold) had an eigenvalue (3.985) above 1. using the kaiser criterion (retained all components with eigenvalues above 1), only this component could be retained. it explained 79.70% of the variance and accounting for 79.70% of the overall variance. according to yong and pearce (2013), 60% of the total variance could be adopted as the lowest acceptable level if the extracted component explained 60% of the total variance. consequently, extracted one-component-solution is suitable since the sole component explains 79.70% of the total variance of the construct of construction risk measurement. it is supposed that this one-componentsolution is simple, parsimonious, and concurs with literature. table 6. percentage variance explained-risk measurement component item eigenvalue % of explained variance cumulative % rm1 3.985 79.700 79.700 rm2 0.548 10.964 90.664 rm3 0.224 4.487 95.151 rm4 0.143 2.862 98.013 rm5 0.099 1.987 100.000 table 7. component matrix component 1 rm4 0.941 rm5 0.920 rm3 0.887 rm2 0.873 rm1 0.841 besides, an examination of the scree-plot which evinced a clear break after the second component supported the decision to retain only one component for supplementary examination (figure 2) using catell’s (1966) scree test. this decision was also reinforced by the results of principal axis factoring (table 7), which unveiled strong loadings (above o.40) of the five items. as evinced by hair et al. (2018), only items that load on a sole factor are retained. this result suggests that a onefactor solution is likely to be more appropriate (pallant, 2016). figure 2. scree plot 4.2.2 project success (ps) table 8 presents the efa results of ps measures. three of the five measures of project success had eigenvalues exceeding 1 (1.954; 1.217; and 1.003), explaining 39.08%; 24.35%; and 20.06% of the variance and accounting for 83.49% of the overall variance to a successful outcome. the results indicate that ps of smes is defined by three variables namely; “meeting time objectives for key milestones”, meeting cost objectives for the project”, and “meeting quality objectives for the project”. oblimin with kaiser normalisation was subsequently applied to supplement the decision to retain three variables, which disclosed strong loadings of the variables. hence, enough evidence of convergent validity was rendered for this construct. table 8. efa results of the successful outcome of smes construct projects extraction method: exploratory factor analysis rotation method: oblimin with kaiser normalisation 4.3 results of multiple regression analysis (mra) 4.3.1 influence of rm on ps of construction smes mra was used to model the correlation between rm and ps of construction smes by statically establishing if the explanatory variable (rm) had a significant influence on the response variable (ps). before testing the hypothesised correlation between the variables, precursory tests were undertaken to ensure observance of the assumptions underlying regression analysis. the component variable eigenvalue % explained variance factor loading project success (ps) po1 1.954 39.079 0.790 po2 1.217 24.350 0.890 po3 1.003 20.064 0.913 po4 0.501 10.020 0.936 po5 0.324 6.487 0.612 42 b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. hypothesis tested was as per the conceptual framework in figure 1. of the five measures (rm1, rm2, rm3, rm4, and rm5), only one measure (rm3) reached statistical significance (i.e., p=0.052<0.05) with a significant unique contribution of 28% (beta=0.281) as shown in table 9. it was further revealed that rm explained 13% (r2=0.130) of the variance in ps of construction smes (table 10). this was an indication that rm is not a good predictor of ps owing to the low r2 obtained. however, analysis of variance (anova) in table 11 suggested that the model attained statistical significance (p <0.05). this signifies that ps is influenced by one measure (rm3) and the influence of rm is significantly different from the value of 5.227 (f value). therefore, the null hypothesis (h10) that rm does not influence ps could not be supported. this implies that, the alternative hypothesis (h1), that rm influences ps of construction smes may be accepted. table 9. coefficientsinfluence of rm on ps model unstandardised standardised sig. zero-order correlations b std. error beta (constant) 19.098 0.310 0.000 rm1 0.166 0.150 0.135 0.269 0.310 rm2 -0.218 0.164 -0.188 0.186 0.152 rm3 0.362 0.185 0.281 0.052 0.339 rm4 0.024 0.214 0.019 0.912 0.261 mr5 0.081 0.193 0.075 0.674 0.216 table 10. model summaryinfluence of rm on ps model r r2 adjusted r2 std. error of the estimate 0.360 0.130 0.105 1.39564 table 11: anovainfluence of rm on ps sum of squares df mean square f sig. regression 50.901 5 10.180 5.227 0.000 residual 340.866 175 1.948 total 391.768 180 5. discussion 5.1 correlation between rm and ps the correlation between the explanatory variable rm and the response variable ps was significant (p=0.000<0.05). this was a clear indication that rm influenced ps through elucidating the risk measurement criteria to be adopted, establishing the level of acceptable risk and risk timeframe relevant to risk effect and risk likelihood. this result is not surprising as it substantiates fernando et al. (2018) who observed that cost-effective risk management is naturally dependent on rm. if rm is deemed insignificant or is poorly conducted, then the chances of successfully handling risk go way down. the current result also substantiates the recent studies carried out by lu et al. (2019) and rambo and oketch (2018) for chinese and kenyan construction smes respectively where it was concluded that rm of management processes is a robust attribute of construction smes corporate establishments for constant enhancement and innovation, and higher-level performance. simota et al. (2017) also explain the importance of rm in helping stakeholders make well-informed decisions, evading conflicts, and increasing success. williams (2016), believe that the practice of rm is indicative of the quality and consistency of security risk management processes. without measuring risk, we cannot ascertain what response measures the enterprise should take to optimise the project risk-reward trade-off. acharya et al. (2017) supported that when applied, rm contributes to providing warning signs; it builds on linking between historical data and foreseeing tools to develop feasible scenarios that might pose a threat to the project. in other studies, the rm process has evinced a significant correlation with ps (moshesh et al., 2018; muchenga, 2016; williams, 2016). furthermore, it was revealed that evaluating the likelihood and magnitude of risk contributed to organisational performance in the turkish service and manufacturing industry, through inventory performance, innovation performance, and customer service (sayilir & farhan, 2017). similarly, in investigating risk management practices and their effect on construction project performance, omer and adeleke (2019) established that rm had a significant relationship in improving project performance in malaysia and other nations. irrespective of the country or industry, rm has shown evidence of its significance in enhancing project performance. the result of the hypothesised relationship suggests that the saci, specifically the sme sector, do recognise the importance of using rm in decision-making related to the process of managing construction risks. project managers in the sme sector should include rm as part of their risk management activities to benefit the advantages of adopting rm practices to enhance their project performance and hence achieve ps. therefore, executive management of organisations should rely more on statistical measurements, and reliable analysed data and motivate risk information-sharing culture in the organisation. this will lead smes to the continual enhancement and eventually impact project performance positively. b. y. renault et al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(2).34-45. 43 6. contribution of the study by establishing the influence of rm on ps of construction smes, this study contributes to the applicable body of knowledge about project risk management by producing a model that will enable construction enterprises from sa and analogous developing countries to focus on a few measures of rm to curtail project risks in construction. furthermore, this study highlights the importance of incorporating rm as part of risk management practices to attain success at the project level of smes within the saci. the insights presented in this paper can be valuable information for future construction projects, practitioners, and other categories of contractors. 7. conclusion this study has established a correlation between rm and ps of smes in the saci. this article illustrates results secured from a questionnaire survey from gauteng. it was found that rm significantly influences ps of construction smes through delimiting the rm criteria to be adopted, establishing the level of acceptable risk and risk timeframe relevant to risk effect and risk likelihood. this result corroborates extant literature which advocates the adoption of rm to achieve ps in construction. the current finding is, therefore expected to retain smes' upper management attention in incorporating rm as part of their risk management elements for their projects. 8. study limitations and future work the study was conducted in gauteng; the data and survey results were collected from construction smes. the results are therefore limited to the context of gauteng and cannot be generalised to the whole country, nor they can be directly applied in other countries without appropriate substantiation. homogeneous studies in other nations could produce contradictory findings. furthermore, the current study did not determine the influence of individual measures of rm on ps. keeping in view that risk management warrants an emphasis on appropriate measures of rm, it is suggested that subsequent research be conducted with a perspective to expanding the knowledge of the effect of individual measure of rm on construction ps. such a study can model the causal relationship between each measure of rm and ps criteria using, for instance, structural equation modelling (sem). references acharya, v.v., pedersen, l.h., philippon, t., and richardson, m. 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(2019). using multivariate statistics (7ed.). pearson, united states of america. teuma, j. (2019). the attitudes and approaches to risk management among gozitan smes within the construction and financial services sectors. bachelor's dissertation (insurance and risk management). university of malta, malta. van winsen, f., de mey, y., lauwers, l., van passel, s., vancauteren, m., and wauters, e. (2016). determinants of risk behaviour: effects of perceived risks and risk attitude on farmer’s adoption of risk management strategies. journal of risk research, 19(1):56-78 williams, p. (2016). managing measurement of risk in building and civil engineering (1st ed.). chichester, west sussex: united kingdom, wiley blackwell. zoghi, f.s. (2017). risk management practices and smes: an empirical study on turkish smes. international journal of trade, economics and finance, 8 (2): 123-127. jcbm (2020) 4(1). 34-47 consultants` perspectives of survival strategies for small and medium construction firms at infancy stage e. t. adu 1, a. d. lamptey-puddicombe 2 and a. opawole 3 1 department quantity surveying, university of uyo, uyo, akwa ibom state, nigeria 2 department of quantity surveying, rivers state university, port-harcourt, rivers state, nigeria 3 department quantity surveying, obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria received 11 july 2019; received in revised form 3 october 2019 and 20 january 2020; accepted 25 january 2020. https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.792 abstract this study examines survival strategies for small and medium construction firms (smcfs) at infancy stage as well as the factors affecting the adoption of these strategies. the study area is uyo metropolis in akwa ibom state, nigeria. the study employed stratified random sampling technique to select a sample for the study. primary data obtained from 103 validated questionnaires, administered to professionals in the built environment are analysed using percentage, mean score and kruskal wallis test. results reveal that all the strategies examined in this study are significant for the survival of smcfs at infancy stage; dominant among the factors are: innovativeness, required skills, willingness to take risk, entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours, entrepreneurial organization structure and strategies, and financial resource management. the results further reveal that the dominant factors affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs at infancy stage are: availability and access to finance, the poor state of the country's infrastructure, poor managerial/executive capacity of the implementing agencies, characteristics of entrepreneurs and failure to adapt to the changing business environment. the study recommends that in addition to regular training to acquire required skills for effective management of the firms, smcfs should also adopt any or a combination of the strategies highlighted, to survive in the current dynamic and competitive construction environment. keywords: construction firms, construction industry, entrepreneurship, stakeholders, strategies. 1. introduction in a bid to address the issue of unemployment, government efforts have focused mainly on implementing one initiative or the other. this may not be unconnected to the notion that the solution to unemployment can only be achieved when people take to entrepreneurial activities (okezie, alex, & asoluka, 2013). this could also be attributed to the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) cover a wide range of industries and play an important role in both developed and developing economies (sharma & bhagwat, 2006). also, a booming and blooming sme`s sector is viewed as one of the significant characteristics of a flourishing and growing economy that every government intends to attain (etim, adabu, & ogar, 2017). ongori and migiro (2010) assert that in africa, smes employ more than 40% of all new 1 corresponding author. email address: teatea4t@yahoo.com entrants to the labour force because they are labour intensive. similarly, sharma and bhagwat (2006) assert that the smes sector accounts for 40 per cent of industrial production, 35 per cent of total 20 exports and provides about 80 per cent of employment in industrial production in india. the economic development of most nations such as malaysia, singapore, hong kong, south korea and taiwan is intrinsically linked to the development of the sme sector. study shows that by the end of 2012, 80% of china’s employment and 60% of the country’s gdp had been provided by the 13 million smes that constitute more than 99% of all the country’s enterprises (gao & banerji, 2015). in nigeria, the contribution of smes to the economy is of notable significance as 70% of the country’s employment is generated by smes (aina, 2007). university of cape town journal of construction business and management http://journals.uct.ac.za/index.php/jcbm https://doi.org/10.15641/jcbm.4.1.792 mailto:teatea4t@yahoo.com 34 e. t. adu et. al.. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 entrepreneurship has permeated every industry and arguably every career of choice (allen, 2003), the way people think, reason and act are opportunity-based, holistic in approach and leadership balanced (timmons & spinelli, 2004). as part of initiatives to address the issue of unemployment, the communiqué of the world conference on higher education held in spain implored tertiary institutions to produce entrepreneurship graduates towards a sustainable economy (udoudoh, 2018). many countries have also included entrepreneurship training at secondary schools and higher education institutions since the 1990s (duell, 2011). as part of the effort, the nigeria government in 2006 gave a directive through the higher education institutions (heis) to immediately include entrepreneurship education (eed) as a compulsory course for all students with effect from the 2007/2008 academic session (etuk, offiong, & usip, 2018). despite the numerous laudable programmes, policies, schemes and financial investment by the government of different nations, many smes fail to grow beyond the infancy stage. the situation in nigeria is not much different as entrepreneurial development is still very slow, and many smes find it difficult to survive the turbulence in the market economy (diyoke, 2014). the situation in the construction industry is worrisome. this is because the industry is more susceptible to high failure compared to smes in other sectors, such as manufacturing and agriculture. odeyinka, kaka and mortledge (2003) had earlier reported a high rate of failure in the construction industry compared to other sectors of the economy. the impact of the failure is endemic and disruptive to the construction industry, individuals and the society at large (scarborough, zimmere, & wilson, 2008; abd-hamid et al., 2015). the construction business is limited to 80% in many construction companies in what is believed as a lack of business opportunities and the recent world economic decline (adesiyan, 2016). several programmes and initiatives in resuscitating smes, particularly in developing countries, have no clear directive of survival strategy for entrepreneurship at the infancy stage. the infancy stage of entrepreneurship is a phase before the maturity stage in the business lifecycle, which is about a maximum of six to seven years from the commencement of the business. most entrepreneurs at this stage are immature and inconsistent with the needs of a business-driven system. ndabeni (2008) states that many new ventures fail and only a few attain survival and sustainability rating in both developed and developing countries. turyakira (2018) reports a continuous business failure of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries. research findings in nigeria reveal that most smes collapse within their first five years of existence (aremu & adeyemi, 2011). the authors add that a smaller percentage goes into extinction between the sixth and tenth years, while only about five to ten per cent of young companies survive and grow to maturity. in corroboration, ajayi, peace and mafimidiwo (2015) confirm a high mortality rate of business organisations in nigeria (including the construction industry) due to poor performance. the situation is not much different in other countries (thwala & phaladi, 2009; adcorp, 2012). this may not be unconnected to the fact that today's business environment characterised by more volatility and uncertainty than ever before, with globalization being the order of the day has become a reality for all players on the domestic and international scene (naicker & saungweme, 2009). collett, pandit and saarikko (2014) identify poor management, high debt in the adverse macroeconomic and microeconomic environment as three critical factors responsible for the failure of smes. in a similar study, santini, favarin, nogueira, oliveira and ruppentthal (2015) identify eleven major factors causing mortality of small businesses and classified them into two. the first group is the internal and external factors, and the second group of factors are related to the owner-manager, to the business itself and the environment. previous studies have attempted to address this problem and also to suggest possible solutions in some developing countries (adejumo & olaoye, 2012; okezie et al., 2013; diyoke, 2014; bouazza, ardjouman & abada, 2015; abd-hamid et al., 2015; igwe, newbery, white & nihar, 2017; jegede, 2018), yet there is a dearth of research on strategies for survival of smes at infancy stage particularly in the construction sector. this may be because researchers have not recognized the vacuum created by the dead and ailing firms rendering investigation of strategies for its survival crucial. in order to investigate the subject and contribute to narrowing the knowledge gap, this study provides insight to the survival strategies at the infancy stage of construction entrepreneur with the view to ensuring sustainable entrepreneurship in the built environment. the objectives of the study are to examine the survival strategies at infancy stage for smcfs and to assess further the extent of the factors that affect the adoption of these strategies from consultants` perspectives in uyo metropolis of nigeria. the result of this study should provide useful information for construction entrepreneurs on survival strategies to be adopted, especially at the infancy stage and also ensure smooth take-off for potential entrepreneurs. the proposed strategies will not only ensure the survival of smcfs but will also promote the globalization of smes, improve economic status and reduction in poverty level. 2. entrepreneurship and smcfs entrepreneurship has become a global topic, and yet it has no universally accepted definition (dana, 2001). baron and henry (2011) attempt to describe entrepreneurship as a field that seeks to understand how opportunities to create something new (such as products or services) arise, and are created by individuals who then use various means (for instance launching a new business) to exploit or develop them. oladun (2012) views entrepreneurship as creating a product, a service, task or activity that meets the needs of the society with its attendant financial rewards and risks. similarly, nwoke, adebayo and olutope (2017) define entrepreneurship as the process which involves the effort of an individual or individuals in identifying viable business opportunities in an environment and managing the resources needed to exploit them. entrepreneurship is, therefore, a medium that intends to meet the needs of ordinary citizens and the nation by creating a product or service of values. most governments, especially in the developing countries in an attempt to strengthen their socio-economic development, e. t. adu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 35 have redirected their focus on entrepreneurship and formation of new firms and industries (rattanawiboonsom & ali, 2016). according to bondinuba (2012), small firms are classified as having between 10 and 99 employees, while medium firms have between 100 and 200 employees. this classification defines smcfs, which is an extension of smes in the construction sector. the construction industry plays a complementary role in entrepreneurship in both developed and developing countries. studies reveal that the construction industry is a key provider of employment opportunities worldwide perhaps second to agriculture. it is the primary provider in urban areas, especially in the building sector involving both new and maintenance work which is labour intensive (women in informal employment: globalising and organising (wiego, 2018). the industry is identified as one of the leading economic indicators in terms of building permits that offers foresight into future real estate supply levels of which a high volume indicates a vibrant construction industry with an attendant increase in gdp (smith, 2018). the construction industry aids the development of entrepreneurship by creating an enabling environment through the provision of physical infrastructures, such as transportation, access to power, water and raw materials. without these facilities, entrepreneurship activities will suffer serious consequences such as an increase in production cost and associated risks which impact economic growth and development. efforts toward these provisions enhance the relevance of the industry in wealth creation and job opportunities which make the industry one of the best sectors positively complementing government efforts in meeting the needs of the citizenry. in order to sustain these laudable achievements, construction entrepreneurs need to capture economic value through the exploration and exploitation of construction businesses (abd-hamid et al., 2015), both at local and national levels. this is made possible because of the multi-disciplinary approach of the industry which involves different trades, professionals, skilled and unskilled personnel producing value chain through interdependency in providing necessary inputs at different phases of the project from inception to completion (akinsiku & olubunmi, 2014). this is a good platform for entrepreneurs to thrive, especially among young built environment graduates (adu & oladele, 2018). these include contracting and subcontracting works such as aluminium works, professional glaziers, finishing works, material manufacturing as well as labour and skills management on site. all these can be accommodated in the built environment (dada, 2017) apart from the core management services required at different project lifecycle. 3. survival and survival strategy for smcfs survival is one of the primary ways of measuring business success apart from other factors such as profits, return on investment, sales growth, and the number of personnel employed, happiness and corporate reputation (schmidpeter & weidinger, 2014). a considerable number of studies in the entrepreneurship field view the concept of survival as similar to success (praag, 2003; reijonen & komppula, 2007). reijonen and komppula (2007) find a similarity between survival and success and define survival as continued business operations, and failure as going out of business. praag (2003) posits that the longer a business can survive in the market place and prevent involuntary exit, the more successful it is. survival is therefore fundamental to the success of entrepreneurship provided a right strategy is employed. strategies are well-planned series of actions, ways and means of making use of available human and non-human resources intelligently and skilfully to achieve a goal. according to yusuf and dansu (2013), the concept of strategies is built on the future ability of a business to operate ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life for its workforce, the local and global community and future generations. strategies are an integral part of every endeavour and are fundamental to the formation, survival and successful growth of entrepreneurship in today`s competitive business environment. the formulation and implementation of these strategies might hold the key to the growth and survival of smes. an understanding of sources, causes and nature of the failure of smes is a significant determinant of the choice of strategy to adopt for organisation survival. investigation of causes of factors responsible for premature death or failure of smes has received much research attention. failure of smes is attributed to several factors which include unethical practices, lack of information, economic recession, soliciting or offering kickbacks, incompetence, poor infrastructure, lack of quality education, ineffective credit and financial system, corruption and political instability (tarus & nganga, 2013; ononogbo, joel, & edeja, 2016; african economic outlook, 2017; igwe, newbery, white, & nihar, 2017). similarly, agwu and emeti (2014) identified other factors contributing to this premature death of smes such as insufficient capital, irregular power supply, infrastructural inadequacies, lack of focus, inadequate market research, lack of succession plan, inexperience and lack of proper bookkeeping, inability to separate business and personal finances. etim et al. (2017) in a study on the influence of entrepreneurial orientation as a survival strategy for smes in nigeria, affirm that there is a significant positive relationship between the survival of sme's and entrepreneurial orientation variables which include innovation, risk-taking and pro-activeness. fadanhusi (2012), in a similar study on the growth of small businesses, reveals a positive correlation between survival strategies via innovativeness and the survival of smes. okpara (2009), also, observes that smes that are driven by innovation have a higher survival rate than those with a conservative attitude. abd-hamid et al. (2015) in a study on predictors for the success and survival of entrepreneurs in the construction industry find that the success and survival of construction enterprises depend on success factors which have a direct impact on the business success, not only in the short-term but also, the long-term. ali (2018), in a recent case study on one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the water industry in basra city, shows that five strategies are used by the founder to keep his firm alive. these include a sale on credit (buy now and pay later), groundwater to produce freshwater for 36 e. t. adu et. al.. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 low cost, care for wholesale and retail dealers and quality products, technology investment for cost reduction, and social network and family support. factors such as entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours have been identified as necessary for firms of all sizes to prosper and grow (kraus, 2013). man et al. (2002) also identify entrepreneurial competency as important in a firm's performance and competitiveness. competitiveness, conversely, has a variety of attributes such as personality traits, skills and knowledge that enhance survival of entrepreneurs. traditional factors such as age and size of the firm, organizational strategies; individual and environmental factors are also found to have an impact on the survival of smes (geroski, mata, & portugal, 2010). other factors such as ambition, independence, selfconfidence, risk-taking, vision, creativity, energy, passion, and commitment are vital traits expected of successful entrepreneurs (hisrich, shepherd, & peters, 2005; ogbo & agu, 2012). in addition to the above review, which provides insight into the survival strategies for entrepreneurship, comprehensive literature identifies 18 variable factors as presented in table 1. the concern of this study, however, is to examine the variables that constitute survival strategies for smcfs at the infancy stage. table 1: survival strategies for construction entrepreneurship s/n. factors sources 1 entrepreneurial organization structure and strategies chen and lee, 2007 2 competitive aggressiveness venkatraman, 1989 3 entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours kraus, 2013; morris et al., 1996 4 required skills osemeke, 2012; ogbo and agu, 2012 5 autonomy lumpkin and dess, 1996 6 organizational flexibility and speed morris et al., 2012 7 financial resources and management wiklund et al., 2009 8 adaptability morris and kuratko, 2003 9 entrepreneurial competencies ma et al., 2002 10 corporate venturing antoncic and hisrich, 2001 11 willingness to take risk rauch et al., 2009 12 environmental factors geroski et al., 2010 13 proactiveness rauch et al., 2009 14 innovativeness rauch et al., 2009 15 human resource management anyadike et al., 2012 16 social network mboko and smith-hunter, 2009 17 family support mboko and smith-hunter, 2009 18 situational responsiveness mboko and smith-hunter, 2009 4. factors affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs identifying survival strategies for sustainable entrepreneurship is not sufficient in helping entrepreneurs to achieve the desired result. entrepreneurs need to understand the nature and dynamics of challenges and difficulties inherent to the implementation of these strategies. this is because entrepreneurs operate in a competitive environment coupled with constraining internal organizational factors which determine the success or failure of any adopted strategy or initiative. however, these factors are inherent in every business, small or large; understanding and the priority accorded to these factors are important to the adoption of the survival strategies for entrepreneurs. adopting a strategy for the survival of entrepreneurship is therefore critical to its continued existence and success even beyond the infancy stage. previous studies reveal that failure of several programmes and many support initiatives to revamp entrepreneurship by past and current governments of nigeria was blamed on poor implementation (okezie et al., 2013; adejumo and olaoye, 2012). similarly, etim et al. (2017) also blamed this on the initial response of the policymakers in nigeria as either not proactive or reactive enough to respond to the alarming rate of the depth of problems faced by sme`s or understand the magnitude of the difficult conditions faced by owners of sme`s. igwe et al. (2017) identify five major institutional barriers which also affect the adoption of survival strategies in nigeria as follows: an ineffective credit and financial system, corruption, political instability and an inefficient legal system, poor infrastructure, lack of quality education, and religion, traditions and customs. entrepreneurship operates within environmental factors such as economic, political, financial, technological and legal positions of an organization (taormina & lao, 2006). inability to assess effective management poses a threat to its success and survival. besides, igwe, amaugo, ogundana, egere and anigbo (2018) identify insecurity, bribery, bureaucratic delays, power outage and lack of market access among the existing challenges of entrepreneurship. infrastructure deficit in most developing countries has retarded efforts of entrepreneurs in the adoption of rewarding initiatives for its survival in the market place. onodugo and onodugo (2015) raise a serious concern on the state of nigeria’s infrastructure and view it as a nightmare to both entrepreneurs and the rest of the country's population. the authors add that with the existing infrastructure or non-existence in some places; the cost of doing business has risen tremendously. the relocation of some multinational organizations from nigeria to ghana a few years ago was not unconnected with the poor state of infrastructure. several other factors that could hinder entrepreneurs in adopting recommended e. t. adu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 37 strategies have been identified in the literature. these include lack of access to external financing, low human resources, characteristics of entrepreneurs, managerial capacities, location of the enterprise, access to information, inadequate business planning, technological capacities, access to finance, human resources capacities, corruption, lack of motivation, and education background of the entrepreneur (haynes, 2003; ciavarella et al., 2004; dionco-adetayo, 2004; ucbasaran, westhead, & wright, 2004; morse, fowler & lawrence, 2007; krasniqi, 2007; pasanan, 2007; sridhar & wan, 2010; sidika, 2012; onodugo & onodugo, 2015; bouazza ardjouman & abada, 2015). the summary of literary works on 31 variable factors affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs is as presented in table 2. table 2: factors affecting adoption of survival strategies for entrepreneurship s/n. factors sources 1 lack of management skills and training bouazza et al., 2015 2 characteristics of entrepreneurs ciavarella et al., 2004 3 managerial capacities olawale and garwe, 2010 4 lack of resources for implementation ofori, 1994 5 contractor's incompetence/inadequacies ogunlana et al., 1996 6 human resource capacities lee, 2001 7 lack of commitment to solve its problems ofori, 1994 8 technological capacities drucker, 1985; morse et al., 2007 9 the poor state of the country's infrastructure ogunlana et al., 1996; onodugo and onodugo, 2015 10 access to finance krasniqi, 2007 11 the poor executive capacity of the implementing agencies ofori, 1994 12 low technological capacities morse et al., 2007; bouazza et al., 2015 13 corruption onodugo and onodugo, 2015 14 in-appropriateness of some of the recommendations ofori, 1994 15 inconsistent government policies onodugo and onodugo, 2015 16 problems caused by clients and consultants ogunlana et al., 1996 17 failure to adapt to the changing business environment onodugo and onodugo, 2015 18 lack of motivation factors dionco-adetayo, 2004 19 lack of support from expected quarters rahman and singh, 2014 20 location of the enterprise sridhar and wan, 2010; leidholm, 2002 21 education background almus, 2002; martinez et al., 2007 22 access to information okumus, 2000 23 inadequate business planning ahmad and seet, 2009 24 networking ciavarella et al., 2004 25 problems caused stakeholders ogunlana et al., 1996 26 cumbersome legal and regulatory constraints bouazza et al., 2015 27 resource allocation okumus, 2000 28 operational plans okumus, 2000 29 control mechanism thorpe and morgan, 2007 30 cooperative management thorpe and morgan, 2007 31 organisational behaviour or culture okumus, 2000 5. methodology the study utilises primary data obtained through a field survey in order to achieve the objectives. the study area is uyo, the capital of akwa ibom state, the leading oilproducing state in the niger delta. uyo is also one of the fastest-growing state capitals in terms of infrastructure and development within the south-south region of nigeria (olubajo & kuma, 2017). the choice of the area was to explore the possibility of reducing the mortality rate among smcfs and reviving ailing ones majorly at the infancy stage. this is with the view to ensuring their contributions to the "industrialization" agenda of the government as well as sustaining the contributions of these firms to both the local and national economy. the purpose of the industrialization agenda is to rebrand akwa ibom state from "civil service" state to industrialize base of nigeria. the study population consists of professionals in the construction industry. since professionals in the smcfs within uyo metropolis are used in this study, the stratified random sampling technique is employed to determine the sample of the study. the technique is important as it further enhances the sampling precision of the study population (kumar, 2005). the stratification was done according to the respective professional bodies. the professionals include architects, builders, engineers, estate surveyors and quantity surveyors. before the distribution of the questionnaire, a pre-test to evaluate the proper understanding of the questions and to ascertain whether the questionnaire items adequately cover the constructs and objectives of the study was undertaken. the questionnaire was moderated by five research experts in the field of entrepreneurship and the built environment. the pilot study is considered necessary to ascertain the reliability of the questionnaire when used in the population of the study. this process assists in eliminating any potential problems of the research instrument and in 38 e. t. adu et. al.. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 testing the validity and workability of the instrument. inputs are collated, which result in 15 variable strategic factors for the survival of entrepreneurship and 23 variable factors affecting the adoption of the strategy were adopted in the production of the final questionnaire used in this study. the reliability was also tested and found to be high with cronbach α of 0.67 and 0.82 of variable factors for survival strategies and factors affecting the adoption of the strategies, respectively. thus, it is deemed acceptable, since the value of alpha is desirable with the range higher than 0.6 (hair, anderson, tatham & black, 2006). the reliability as a quality criterion helps to minimize errors and give stable results of data collection. the sample frame of 272 was obtained from the directories of registered professionals from their respective chapters in the state. this comprises of the nigerian institute of architects (nia), nigerian institute of builders (nib), nigerian institute of engineers (nse), nigerian institute of estate surveyors and valuers (niesv) and the nigerian institute of quantity surveyors (niqs). the sample size of the study is determined using taro yamane formula for finite populations (olusanya, 2018), which states that 𝑛 = 𝑁 1 + 𝑁(𝑒 2) (1) where n is the sample size, n is the finite population, e is the level of significance (0.05), and 1 is unity. the breakdown of the sample frame and sample size for each category is shown in table 3. thus, a sample size of 235 is adopted for the study. the minimum qualification of the respondents is higher national diploma (hnd) which is also minimum qualification for corporate membership of professional bodies in the nigerian built environment; 83 per cent have over five years of professional work experience in the industry. table 3: sample frame and sample size of the study professional sample frame sample size architects 63 54 builders 22 21 engineers 93 76 estate surveyors 55 48 quantity surveyors 39 36 total 272 235 section (a) of the questionnaire solicits data on the demographic characteristics of respondents. the aim is to establish a relationship between responses and organisational characteristics of the respondents. section (b) uses a 5-point likert scale ranging from 1 (no importance) to 5 (very high importance) to establish the level of importance of survival strategies for smcfs based on the perception of respondents. the study subsequently seeks the perception of respondents on the severity of factors affecting the adoption of the survival strategies for smcfs using a five-point likert scale ranging from 1 (no effect) to 5 (very high effect). the questionnaires were self-administered, and one hundred and nine questionnaires were returned in which six feedbacks were identified as invalid due to incomplete information. one hundred and three valid questionnaires were used for the analysis giving a valid response rate of 44%. the percentage is higher than the 20-30% returned rate for research conducted within the construction industry. therefore, the result of the survey cannot be considered as biased or of little significance (moses & stahelski, 1999; akintoye & fitzerald, 2002). the collected data were checked for completeness and consistency before data processing and analysis. the views of respondents were compared to determine whether or not they differ in their perception of factors constituting survival strategies and factors affecting the adoption of the strategies. this leads to the postulation of two hypotheses: ho1: there is no significant variation in the survival strategies for smcfs among the perceptions of the various professionals; and ho2: there is no significant variation in the effect of the factors affecting the adoption of the strategy for smcfs among the perceptions of the various professionals. the two hypotheses of the study are analysed using kruskal wallis tests. mean score (ms) is used to determine the level of significance of each factor by five expressions defined by the intervals 0.8 with 3.4 as a cutoff for high significance based on kazaz, manisali and ulubeyli (2008). the ranking of the factors is determined based on the mean item score of each item calculated by the following equation: 𝑀𝑆 = ∑(𝑅𝑃𝑖 × 𝑅𝑖 ) 𝑛 (2) where: ms = mean score, rpi= rating point i (range from 1-5), ri= response to rating point, i) and n = total responses = summation of ri from1-5 6. results and discussion of findings results arising from the analyses of the data collected for the study are presented below. this includes the test of the two hypotheses; evaluation of the survival strategies for smcfs; and the relative effect of the factors affecting adoption of the strategies for smcfs. 6.1 tests for the two hypotheses of the study the study tests whether or not there is significant variation in the perception of various professionals of the survival strategies for smcfs and the effect of the factors affecting the adoption of the strategies. this became necessary to ascertain the level of importance of the survival strategies for smcfs and variance of the factors militating against the adoption of the strategies among the smcfs or whether it could be generalized. this is achieved using a kruskal-wallis test. kruskal-wallis test (h) is a nonparametric statistic which is an alternative to the one-way analysis of variance test (pallant, 2007; udofia, 2011). this test is used when the assumptions for the parametric statistic cannot be satisfied or are violated (pallant, 2007). one of the assumptions of the parametric techniques is that the level(s) of measurement of the variable(s) should be an interval or ratio scale otherwise the non-parametric alternative is to be considered (pallant, 2007). these criteria are satisfied by the data used for this study, hence e. t. adu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 39 the choice of the kruskal-wallis (h) test. the rule for rejection or non-rejection of the hypothesis is that if pvalue > 0.05, the hypothesis is accepted, but if p-value ≤ 0.05, the hypothesis is rejected. the results are presented in table 4 and table 5. table 4: kruskal-wallis h-test for variation in of the importance of survival strategies for construction entrepreneurship in uyo metropolis of nigeria parameters tested respondent groups n x2cal x2tab p-value decision the relative importance of survival strategies architects 15 1.5 9.488 0.827 accept builders 15 1.233 9.488 0.873 accept engineers 15 2.067 9.488 0.723 accept estate surveyors 15 4.5 9.488 0.343 accept quantity surveyors 15 2.867 9.488 0.58 accept *n= number of factors table 5: text of variation of effect of the factors affecting the adoption of the survival strategies among the respondents parameters tested respondent groups n x2cal x2tab p-value decision the relative importance of survival strategies architects 23 0.241 9.488 0.994 accept builders 23 0.677 9.488 0.954 accept engineers 23 1.068 9.488 0.899 accept estate surveyors 23 0.293 9.488 0.99 accept quantity surveyors 23 1.193 9.488 0.879 accept *n= number of factors the results of the kruskal wallis test presented in table 4 indicate that the calculated chi-square (ϰ2) values obtained for all the respondent groups, that is, 1.500, 1.233, 2.068, 4.500 and 867 are less than the table value of 9.488. the indicative hypothesis is therefore accepted, and the inference is that the perceptions of construction professionals on the relative importance of the survival strategies for smcfs do not differ significantly. also the p-value (asymptotic significance) for each of the respondent group, that is, 0.827, 0.873, 0.723, 0.343 and 0.580 is greater than 0.05 further confirm that there is no variation in the perceptions of the respondent groups regarding the importance of the survival strategies for smcfs in the study area. this may be attributed to the general understanding of the respondents of the relationships between strategies and business survival. the result supports nobre and silva (2014) and fadanhusi (2012) that there is a positive correlation between adoption of survival strategies and sme`s survival. similarly, the results in table 5 indicate that the calculated chi-square (ϰ2) value obtained for all the respondent groups, that is, 0.241, 0.677, 1.068, 0.293 and 1.193 are less than the table value of 9.488 implies that there is no significant variation in the perceptions of construction professionals on the effect of the factors affecting the adoption of the survival strategies for smcfs in the study area. the p-value (asymptotic significance) of 0.994, 0.954, 0.899, 0.990 and 0.879 all greater than 0.05 which also confirm that the effect of the factors affecting the adoption of the survival strategies for smcfs does not vary significantly among the selected construction professionals involved in the study. this supports the study by gilmore, carson, and rocks (2006) who blamed the problems of adoption on several particular characteristics and constraints of smes such as lack of time, limited budgets, lack of marketing expertise, lack of market information, and lack of planning. consequently, the two research hypotheses that the perceptions of construction professionals of the relative importance of the survival strategies for smcfs, as well as the relative effect of the factors affecting the adoption of the strategies do not differ significantly in the study area were retained. besides, the overall view of the respondents is further analysed in the following sections. 6.2 evaluation of survival strategies of smcfs this section consists of an evaluation of fifteen variables of survival strategies for construction entrepreneurship (which also include smcfs) identified through literature review and pilot survey. the combined data of the respondents were analysed to determine the perception of selected project team members on the level of importance of survival strategies smcfs. the decision to combine the data for the analysis is based on the conclusion earlier drawn that there is no variation in the perceptions of the respondents in the level of importance of survival strategies for smcfs growth in the study area. the result of the analysis, which indicates the ms of each factor, standard deviation (sd), rank and remark column indicating the significance of each factor are as presented in table 6. the result of the analysis shows that all the factors are significant with the ms of the factors range as 3.43 ≤ ms≤ 4.80. ten of the factors have very high significance (vhs) with the remaining five factors ranking high significance (hs). the results reveal that the innovation is the most significant survival strategy, while the least factor is autonomy. among the top five most significant survival strategies for construction entrepreneurial are innovativeness (ms = 4.80, sd = 0.81), required skills (ms = 4.70, sd = 0.70), willingness to take risk (ms = 4.67, sd = 0.83), entrepreneurship attitudes and behaviours (ms = 4.60, sd = 1.07), and entrepreneurial organization structure and strategies (ms = 4.55, sd = 0.79). however, the five least significant factors are environmental factors (ms = 4.18, sd = 1.28), human 40 e. t. adu et. al.. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 resource management (ms = 3.99, sd = 1.62), corporate venturing (ms = 3.83, sd = 1.24), competitive aggressiveness (ms = 3.50, sd = 1.10), and autonomy (ms = 3.43, sd = 1.08). table 6: survival strategies for construction entrepreneurship at infancy stage s/n. factors mean score std. deviation rank remarks 1 innovativeness 4.80 .81 1st vhs 2 required skills 4.70 .70 2nd vhs 3 willingness to take risk 4.67 .83 3rd vhs 4 entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours 4.60 1.07 4th vhs 5 entrepreneurial organization structure and strategies 4.55 .79 5th vhs 6 financial resource management 4.44 .88 6th vhs 7 proactiveness 4.41 .55 7th vhs 8 organizational flexibility and speed 4.38 1.08 8th vhs 9 adaptability 4.34 .57 9th vhs 10 entrepreneurial competencies 4.30 1.04 10th vhs 11 environmental factors 4.18 1.28 11th hs 12 human resource management 3.99 1.62 12th hs 13 corporate venturing 3.83 1.24 13th hs 14 competitive aggressiveness 3.50 1.10 14th hs 15 autonomy 3.43 1.08 15th hs the result of this study supports the previous findings of ifemkwe and adedamola (2016), who found a statistically significant relationship between survival strategies and smes' sustainability. a similar study conducted by jegede (2018) further confirms the result of this finding stating that the innovative ability is a sine-qua-non for the survival of the entrepreneur and growth of the small business to a large business. findings reveal innovation strategy as the most significant for the survival for smcfs at the infancy stage. innovation involves the analysis of dynamic competition, the pattern of investment, pricing and brand recognition strategies (schmalensee, 2002). supporting the findings from the previous study, hurley and hult (2008) classified innovation into two dimensions which include innovativeness and innovation capability. according to the authors, innovative firms accept and adopt new ideas, products, processes and organizational forms while innovation capability equips firms with an ability to implement and realize innovation. in construction, innovative ideas are critically needed not only to survive the turbulent stage of survival but also to meet the needs of clients in given value for their hard earn income. required skill in any endeavour is an essential attribute that differentiates high performers from average performers. in order for an entrepreneur to weather the storm of challenges at the infancy stage, it is highly necessary to acquire the required skills. this is in agreement with barbero, casillas and feldman (2011) who assert that smes should possess high capabilities in specific functional areas, to grow fast and intensively. according to olagunju (2004), entrepreneurial skill is the individual ability to create a new business through the exploitation of an idea in other to benefit both the individual and society. skills are required in daily operation, finance, marketing, human and non-human resources, as well as general management. construction entrepreneurship, among other things, needs creative, innovative, managerial, analytical, marketing, communicative, technical, and interpersonal skills in order to survive the present competitive and volatile economic and political environment. these also help to achieve maximum profitability and productivity sufficient for the survival of the organisation at the infancy stage. the finding is also in agreement with the study of akhamiokhor (2017), which reveals a significant relationship between employee productivity and human resource strategies in the selected smes. another critical strategy identified in the study for the survival of smcfs is the willingness to take risks. a successful construction entrepreneur is viewed as a risk-taker who anticipates risks and the potential impact in advance. generally, the construction project is a complex endeavour inherent with risks and uncertainties. construction business owners must, therefore, anticipate risk, strike when it is opportune, and effectively manage when there is a threat. this finding is similar to the study by putniņš and sauka (2013) who find higher performance as a result of the reward for taking constructive risks. the finding is also in line with jegede (2018), who states that the lower the risk, the lower the profit. the author adds that a riskless venture hardly possesses any tangible profit and that risk is variability in return. entrepreneur`s attitude, traits and behaviour are important strategies that enhance entrepreneurial capability and competence for business growth and survival. according to harvie, narjoko and oum (2010), entrepreneurial attitudes are those important characteristics needed by smes to upgrade their positions in production networks. this concurs with markman and baron (2003) who state that the closer the match between the individual's characteristics and the requirements of being an entrepreneur, the more successful the individual will be. characteristics of the entrepreneur, which include his socio-demographic characteristics, background characteristics and personality characteristics are necessary for business survival. this finding is also consistent with the previous findings by gurol and atsan (2006). an entrepreneurial organization is described as a consciously coordinated social entity, with a relatively identifiable boundary to achieve a common goal or set of goals (robbins & mathew, 2009; abd-hamid et al., e. t. adu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 41 2015). a well-designed organization structure of the construction business, as revealed in this study is an effective strategy fundamental to the survival and success of entrepreneurship. previous studies also find a strong positive link between organizational structure and entrepreneurship survival of business and construction projects (shahu, pandir, & ganapathy, 2012). 6.3 assessment of the factors affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs this section consists of combined data of the perceptions of the respondents on the effect of the 23 factors identified from literature that affect the adoption of survival strategies of entrepreneurship. the combined data were used having ascertained that there is no variation in the perception of the respondents on the effect of factors affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs in the study area. the result of the analysis, which indicates the ms, sd, rank and remark column indicating the significance of each factor are as presented in table7. table 7: factors affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs s/n. factors mean score std. deviation rank remarks 1 availability and access to finance 4.89 .46 1st vhs 2 the poor state of the country's infrastructure 4.81 .75 2nd vhs 3 poor managerial/executive capacity of the implementing agencies 4.69 .85 3rd vhs 4 characteristics of entrepreneurs 4.62 .94 4th vhs 5 failure to adapt to the changing business environment 4.57 .87 5th vhs 6 low technological capacities 4.51 .84 6th vhs 7 inadequate business planning 4.44 1.32 7th vhs 8 lack of motivation 4.42 1.26 8th vhs 9 lack of commitment to solve its problems 4.41 1.14 9th vhs 10 in-appropriateness of some of the recommendations 4.37 1.24 10th vhs 11 corruption 4.28 1.42 11th vhs 12 human resources capacities 3.98 1.52 12th hs 13 access to information 3.71 1.65 13th hs 14 lack of support from expected quarters 3.63 1.67 14th hs 15 inconsistent government policies 3.60 1.26 15th hs 16 education background 3.51 1.21 16th hs 17 networking 3.45 1.18 17th hs 18 lack of management skills and training 3.45 1.78 18th hs 19 location of the enterprise 3.22 1.68 19th ms 20 problems caused by the stakeholders 3.05 1.79 20th ms 21 lack of resources for implementation 2.83 1.82 21st ms 22 cumbersome legal and regulatory constraints 2.75 1.02 22nd ms 23 problems caused by the immediate local community 2.67 1.86 23rd ms the result of table 7 shows that the rank of the factors range from 2.67 ≤ ms≤ 4.89, with the most prevalent among the factors being availability and access to finance with ms = 4.89 (sd = 0.46); the least ranked factor is problems caused by the immediate local community with mis = 2.67. eleven of the factors have very high significance (vhs); five factors have high significance (hs), while the remaining five factors have medium significance (ms). poor state of the country's infrastructure (ms = 4.81, sd = 0.75) ranks second, followed by poor managerial / executive capacity of the implementing agencies (ms = 4.69, sd = 0.85). characteristics of entrepreneurs (ms = 4.62, sd = 0.94) ranks next, while failure to adapt to the changing business environment (ms = 4.57, sd = 0.87) ranks fifth. among the least ranks factors are problems caused by the stakeholders (ms = 3.05, sd = 1.79) and lack of resources for implementation (ms = 2.83, sd = 1.82). these also include cumbersome legal and regulatory constraints and problems caused by the immediate local community with ms 2.75 (sd = 1.02) and 2.67 (sd = 1.86) respectively, as shown in table7. the findings show that several factors are affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs which can be categorized into three based on the previous studies, namely: personal characteristics of entrepreneur, internal and external characteristics of an entrepreneurial organization. the prevalent among the factors are further discussed in this section. availability and access to finance; this factor ranks most by the respondents as affecting the adoption of survival strategies for smcfs. this factor is a critical issue among construction entrepreneurs in most states of the federation and many developing countries. this result is similar to the finding of a study earlier conducted by afolabi (2013) who identifies financial constraints explained by high lending rates and high loan requirements as the major cause of the absence of a strong and virile smes sub-sector in the nigerian industrial development process. this was shared by kim, knotts and jones (2008) who argue that limited access to financial resources may restrict more substantial 42 e. t. adu et. al.. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 investments especially those that require a more extended payback period, creating a growth and development barrier. findings also show that chad-cameroon pipeline project worth us$4.2 billion which was one of the most expensive projects funded by the world bank in africa at the time failed because world bank withdrew its financial backing (fabian & amir, 2011). a good entrepreneur as a matter of necessity, should have a sound knowledge of project financing, especially large scale and privately financed projects. a project of this nature is often complex owing to the involvement of several stakeholders, the high costs and risks, and the long duration of project development and the contract duration. the poor state of the country's infrastructure has been an unresolved problem in the entire nation for several decades. it is not a surprise that this factor is highly ranked in this study. it is a critical issue facing entrepreneurs and concern individuals in the country. the result of the study is in agreement with previous studies by jegede (2018), the finding reveals associated infrastructural problems such as shortage of water supply, inadequate transport systems, lack of electricity to improper solid waste management as a major factor affecting the survival and growth of smes in developing economy. the finding is also consistent with the report of a survey on the competitive performance of 144 economies worldwide conducted by world economic forum on global competitiveness in 2014 in which nigeria was ranked low in the quality of its infrastructure (damoah, 2015). the poor managerial system is a major factor responsible for the failure of implementing the recommended strategy or policy that promotes organizational existence or perhaps using the wrong approach. this is in agreement with dandira (2011) who notes that even though remarkable progress has been made in the field of strategic management, the problem of strategy implementation failure persists. the problem of the poor managerial system identified in this study is consistent with the findings by mba and cletus (2014) who opine that inefficiency in overall business management and poor record-keeping is a major feature of most smes. other challenges include technical problems/competence and lack of essential and required expertise in production, procurement, maintenance, marketing and finances which are also identified as factors that lead to funds misapplication, wrong and costly decision making. the implications are very critical and can eventually lead to the death of the smces. findings reveal that the entrepreneur`s characteristics are one of the most influential factors that affect business performance and competitiveness in the market (simpson et al. 2004). these characteristics, among other things, include the age of the entrepreneur, gender, education and family background and previous experience (guzman & santos, 2001; ucbasaran et al., 2004). these factors can either motivate or demotivate an entrepreneur from being proactive and taking specific actions where necessary. the result of this study is in agreement with the findings by markman et al. (2007) which relate personal perseverance to a person's capability to persist in the face of difficulties, risks, and failure. the authors maintain that such persons will consistently rise and breakthrough, and as they persevere, they become more skilled and empowered to tackle the next adversity. inability to manage the ever occurring changes in business environments can as well hinders entrepreneur in achieving success. changes witnessed in business environments may be from internal or external sources. internal sources may include changes in project scope, technology, time and cost. external factors, on the other hand, include opportunities, threats, technology, macroenvironmental factors, political climate, and information available in the market which will potentially affect all entrepreneurs, regardless of their background, business sector, or business concept (dahlqvist, davidsson & wiklund, 2000; adu & ekung, 2019). findings from previous studies reveal that inability to manage these changes contribute to project failure (kaliba, muya & mumba, 2009). 7. conclusion and recommendations this study investigated survival strategies for smcfs at infancy stage and factors affecting the adoption of the strategies. based on the findings above, the study concludes that ensuring the survival of smcfs at infancy stage depends upon understanding and effective application of specific strategies. the five most dominant among the strategies are: "innovativeness", "required skills", "willingness to take the risk", "entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours", “entrepreneurial organization structure and strategies”, and “financial resource management”. apart from effective management of human and financial resources, entrepreneur competencies and networking in managing entrepreneurial environments are also identified as a panacea for success and survival of smcfs at the infancy stage. the study also concludes that adoption of the strategies for survival of entrepreneurship is not without challenges which can undermine the effort in achieving the desired goal. critical among these challenges are: “availability and access to finance", "poor state of the country's infrastructure", "poor managerial/executive capacity of the implementing agencies", "characteristics of entrepreneurs and failure to adapt to the changing business environment". it was further concluded that the respondents had a common view of survival strategies and factors affecting the adoption of these strategies in the study area. finally, the study concludes that without concerted efforts of government in providing enabling entrepreneurship infrastructure, the gap created in employment generation, national economy and poverty will continue to exist as a result of an increase in the mortality rate of smcfs at the infancy stage. this study recommends that to survive in the current dynamic and competitive construction business environment, smcfs should adopt any or a combination of the strategies highlighted in this study. owners of smcfs should also be involved in regular training to acquire the required skills in the management of human and non-human resources. government through different support initiatives and programmes, should ensure the survival of newly created and registered business firms, especially within the seven years of its existence in the business. there is also a need for a conducive and enabling environment for businesses to thrive through the e. t. adu et. al. / journal of construction business and management (2020) 4(1). 34-47 43 provision of adequate infrastructures. as a way of ensuring the survival of the industry, the government should also set up monitoring and evaluation teams saddled with the responsibility of ensuring steady progress of enterprises and offer advice where necessary. incentive schemes should be made available for the smooth take-off of newly established smcfs as well as extending this initiative to foreign investors. government policy should help, among other things, to reduce administrative costs and regulatory burden at the same time encouraging smcfs in accessing loans from commercial banks and lending institutions. a study of this nature should be carried out in other state capitals and geo-political zones for comparison and generalization of the findings in nigeria and developing countries of the world. 8. limitations of the study the major limitation of the study is the total dependence on the views of the respondents and that the study focused mainly on survival strategies for smecfs in the construction industry at the infancy stage. the findings might specifically apply only to similar contracting organizations and not the majority of smcfs. references abd-hamid, z, azizan, n. a., & sorooshian, s. 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